Vanguard Landing receives another year to develop troubled Virginia Beach housing project for people with disabilities

Virginia Beach — After facing intense scrutiny, a nonprofit will get another chance to continue developing a residential complex for people with intellectual disabilities in the Virginia Beach countryside.

On Tuesday, the Virginia Beach Development Authority voted to allow Vanguard Landing to hold onto a $2.9 million no-interest loan issued by the authority in 2014.

The move comes months after the city’s auditor discovered the authority failed to inform Vanguard Landing that it was in default of its loan for failing to get the project off the ground by deadlines stipulated in the contract.

Vanguard Landing, which is two years behind on its plans to break ground on the project, will get another year to get the 185-person residential complex off the ground.

While the extension will give Vanguard Landing more time, it’s unclear whether that will be enough because the group asked for 18 months.

The Development Authority also attached stricter rules to the loan agreement and the authority eliminated a requirement to start construction. Within 60 days, Vanguard Landing must repay the authority $500,000. The rest of the money must be returned when the development group secures a more than $30 million loan from Virginia Housing, the authority said.

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Going forward, the group must provide quarterly written updates on the progress of the site plan, fundraising efforts, and the loan application with Virginia Housing. In a bank statement recently provided to the authority, Vanguard Landing reported it had $2 million on hand, according to Auditor Lyndon Remias, which is millions more than was initially shown when the auditor began his probe earlier this year.

If Vanguard Landing breaches the new terms, the authority directed staff to initiate foreclosure of the loan.

In recent weeks, advocates for people with disabilities have urged the authority to cut ties with the project because it goes against widely supported recommendations to house people with disabilities within integrated communities close to resources and public transportation. The state and the federal government do not recommend spending tax dollars on segregated or secluded housing for people with disabilities. Yet the Virginia Beach City Council and Development Authority approved the project anyway.

Vanguard Landing’s board has argued that families need a variety of housing choices and entirely independent living isn’t the right environment for all people with disabilities.

In a plea to the board, State Del. Bill DeSteph and Eddie Bourdon, an attorney for Vanguard Landing, told the authority on Tuesday, that the project needs their support.

“All we are asking for is the opportunity to finish this project,” Bourdon said.

Alissa Skelton, 757-995-9043, alissa.skelton@pilotonline.com