Richmond has been awarded a $450,000 federal grant to assist with planning for a major redo of the Gilpin Court public housing community, which sits just north of Downtown.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Monday that the city was one of eight communities to receive planning dollars to prepare a comprehensive plan for revitalization under the Choice Neighborhood Program.

The award is a significant boost for City Hall and the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority, which joined to compete for the grant after RRHA’s board moved Gilpin Court redevelopment into a top priority position.

The initial award could lead to a potential $30 million HUD grant to implement the plan that could take a year or two to develop in concert with residents.

RRHA “is very excited about this award,” stated Stacey Daniels-Fayson, RRHA’s interim chief executive officer. “The age, rich history and condition of this historic development make Gilpin Court an ideal candidate for the grant.”

Ms. Daniels-Fayson called the selection “an important acknowledgement of the efforts of RRHA, in conjunction with the city, the Richmond City Health District and other stakeholders and partners, to further our goal of improving the lives of our families in this community.”

Named for renowned Richmond-born actor Charles Sidney Gilpin, the complex that serves as home for more than 800 low-income families was developed in the early 1940s as the first public housing community in the city. It is still the largest.

The community was once part of Jackson Ward but was split off after Interstate 95 was built through the area, one of the many majority-Black neighborhoods across the country that were impacted and/or destroyed by highway development.

The public housing community is bounded by Chamberlayne Parkway and 1st, 2nd, Baker, St. James and Hill streets.

RRHA already has started redevelopment. The authority has partnered with a nonprofit, Enterprise Community Development, to provide three apartment complexes in which to move the 200 senior residents of the Fay Towers high-rise in Gilpin Court. That includes renovating the old Baker Elementary school building in Gilpin Court into 50 modern apartments.

The community also has seen additional development of new apartments, with a private developer joining members of the Stallings family to renovate the historic office building in Gilpin Court where the late noted Richmond businesswoman Maggie L. Walker once had her offices and launched a community bank.

Officials went after the Choice Neighborhood grant to jumpstart the transformation of the government-owned sections of Gilpin Court.

The award is a salve for RRHA, which previously was unsuccessful in competing for a limited Choice Neighborhood grant when it began the process of remaking the Creighton Court public housing community in the East End. That project has moved forward, but officials said progress has been slower than if the grant had been secured.

Now 10 years old, the HUD program was launched under former President Obama. The program’s goal has been to provide funding to aid communities to overhaul distressed HUD-assisted housing to create mixed-income communities and to improve the lives to residents.

Along with Richmond, HUD awarded planning grants to Annapolis, Md.; Augusta, Ga.; Brownsville, Texas; Jackson, Mich.; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; and McKees Rocks, Penn. At least 32 communities applied.

Deputy HUD Secretary Adrianne Todman stated that planning grants should “support a robust planning process that will bring residents and representatives of public and private organizations together to share their hopes for their community.”

Ms. Todman stated that the program emphasizes linking housing improvements with comprehensive social services and physical neighborhood improvements.