A ceremonial opening of the Five Points Crossing workforce housing development is set for 2 p.m. Monday.
The gathering will mark the completion of a $9.5 million, four-story, 50-unit building across Tarboro Street from Edgecombe Community College’s Rocky Mount campus. The building was constructed to provide homes for residents who earn up to 60 percent of the area’s median income.
Word of the official opening came via email correspondence on March 5 with Karen Bernick, the director of corporate communications for Woda Cooper Companies, which is the development partner for the project.
Bernick said that Woda Cooper is expecting total occupancy by the middle of next month.
“At present, 45 out of 50 units are spoken for, and there are 150 on the waiting list,” Bernick said.
The time and date of the opening was also announced Thursday morning at the monthly Central City Revitalization Panel meeting by City Media Relations Specialist Salena Richardson as part of a list of recent and upcoming happenings.
Panel Chairman Garland Jones after the revitalization panel meeting said that he is very excited because he believes having residents downtown is what is going to drive a downtown in the process of being redeveloped.
“As residents start coming in, they start demanding what they want,” Jones said.
Jones was referring to his belief that new residents will voice what businesses they would like to see downtown, along with what activities and events downtown would interest them.
Panel member Ivana Hanson after the revitalization panel meeting said that she is thrilled about the prospects of having an influx of residents moving in and living downtown.
“People bring vitality — and I can’t wait for more vitality,” Hanson said.
Hanson said of redeveloping downtown, “We’re working really hard, but it’s still quiet sometimes.”
Hanson, who lives downtown, said she doesn’t want downtown to be quiet.
“I want people out, and I want to see people and wave to new neighbors,” she said.
The City Council in 2020 voted to go with Woda Cooper, which is based in Ohio but has a strong presence in North Carolina, as the development partner for the Five Points development. Ground was broken in June 2022 on what was an empty lot southeast of downtown’s Five Points intersection and between Tarboro and Rose Street.
Construction of the project has taken longer than expected to complete due to the shortage nationwide of construction materials.
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