Firefly Commons Apartments Completed

Our new Firefly Commons project in Elkins is complete and fully leased. The 16-unit development is made up of six duplexes and a 4-unit townhome. After many years of community planning, Woodlands broke ground on the $4.2M project October 2021 and residents moved in this past December.

Twelve of the units are or can be made fully accessible, and with individual entrances, yard space, and a community green in the middle, the development is intended to be family-friendly, mixed generation housing. Most tenants are from the local community and surrounding counties.

Back in the summer of 2022, Anne Schoonover, had been given notice that the apartment she’d been living in for 15 years on the other side of Elkins was not going to be available anymore. “A friend of mine heard they were putting this in, so I called and got on the list. I was real lucky to call when I did,” she said. “I have bad knees and back. Before I had six steps but here, I have no steps and a walk-in shower, which I love.”

Sitting at her kitchen table in her two-bedroom duplex apartment, Schoonover, gestures at the room around her, “I’ve never really had a place this nice and this roomy. Now I can finally say I have my first real home.”

Woodlands Director Dave Clark organized community discussions back in 2014 that eventually led the organization to develop this project. “There were several significant funding and logistics hurdles to clear for this project to happen so we are thrilled to finally see it come to fruition and serve the housing needs of this area,” Clark said.

“Final financing for the project came,” Clark said, “from a variety of sources and some of our great local partners, including Grant County Bank, Pendleton Community Bank and the WV Housing Development Fund.”  Mountain Valley Bank and the City of Elkins also played key roles in moving the project to reality.

Woodlands was formed in 1995 to address housing and community development needs in Randolph, Barbour, and Tucker Counties. Woodlands believes that healthy, vibrant communities have safe and engaging neighborhoods that provide housing for all people. To apply for a unit at Firefly Commons, download/print and fill out this rental application, or call 304.636.6495 to request a rental application packet be mailed to you. Some income restrictions apply.

News

Blackwater Apartments Now Providing Workforce Housing for Upper Tucker County

Eight units in Davis are move in ready as community deliberates on what project to take on next Together with the local supporters and state champions who made this ...

Read More
Stories

Green Building Initiative: Conditioned Crawl Spaces

Since our inception in the mid-1990s Woodlands has been pushing the envelope and including green building practices on every project. Wrapped in the final package of a finished house, ...

Read More
Stories

Northview Apartments Impress Local Residents and US Senators

When we completed work on our Northview Senior Apartments in 2016 the project was lauded by everyone from our US Senator Shelly Moore Capito to the new tenants of ...

Read More
Resources

Paint it Black 2: Building a Content Strategy for Artists

Angelica Gilleran, StrongRapport   Karen Jacobson, Woodlands Community Lenders May 19th, Tygart Hotel, Elkins, WV Register here Building a Content Strategy for Artists: Unlocking Your Artistic Voice Online with Strategy ...

Read More
Stories

Strategic Lending for Housing Development

The availability of appropriate housing for residents is a critical component of a functioning local economy. Lenders is often able to provide flexible gap financing to allow housing development ...

Read More
Stories

Infill Investments Inspire Innovation

Infill development describes the process of reutilizing urban or neighborhood properties for new building. Infill development targets abandoned, underutilized, dilapidated, and problem properties in neighborhoods for redevelopment. This reduces ...

Read More
News

Paint it Black Seminar Series Announced

A free seminar series focused on art-based business development is taking place from April to August at the Tygart Hotel We are excited to announce  a five-part seminar series ...

Read More
News

Community Banks Provide Key Investments to Push Tygart Hotel Project Forward

Historic Tax Credit investments close financing gaps on Elkins’ big hotel project Tygart Hotel partners Pendleton Community Bank, Davis Trust Company, and Freedom Bank gathered on Friday, April 29th ...

Read More
Stories

Shades of Green

Since our inception Woodlands has been driving sustainable and energy efficient building practices in our region. We use sustainable construction practices in all our building projects. Our units are ...

Read More
Resources

Paint it Black 3: Copyright, Contracts, and Creatives

Angela Kniery, attorney at law & photographer   Tena Crites, Woodlands Community Lenders June 23rd, Tygart Hotel, Elkins, WV Register here Copyright, Contracts, and Creatives Unlocking Your Artistic Voice Online ...

Read More
Stories

New Units Opening on the Banks of the Blackwater River

Woodlands Development and Lending is excited to open the doors to tenants at the new Blackwater Avenue apartments in Davis, WV in early 2022. This community complex of 8 ...

Read More
News

New Job Posting: Mon Forest Towns Executive Director

The Mon Forest Towns Partnership (MFTP) was formed to cultivate collaborative relationships across land and forest gateway communities. MFTP’s mission is to grow a strong, sustainable recreational economy that ...

Read More