HARRISONBURG, Va. (ROCKTOWN NOW) – An early timeline has been laid out for when construction will likely begin on the Bluestone Town Center housing development, which Harrisonburg City Council approved last year following a lengthy debate.

Michael Wong, the executive director of the Harrisonburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority, said during an HRHA Liaison Committee meeting Wednesday that the expected allocation of low-income housing tax credits will help the project get off the ground.

“And then we’ll be able to start the construction of the senior housing at Bluestone Town Center probably mid to late 2025,” Wong said. “So, we get awarded the tax credits, you know, complete the construction document site plan for that specific section, and be able to move forward with that.”

Beyond senior housing, the nearly-900-unit mixed-income development along Garber’s Church Road will also feature single-family homes for sale, and eventually, single-and-multifamily rental properties.

Harrisonburg City Council’s approval of the Bluestone Town Center project last year followed months of contentious discussions around the housing development. Two weeks before the final vote, a public hearing over the project stretched a nearly eight-hour city council meeting into the early morning hours of the next day.

Bluestone Town Center was approved in March 2023 with a 3-2 vote. Mayor Deanna Reed and council member Chris Jones cast the two dissenting votes, citing the large scale of the project and the historic neglect of people with low incomes being confined to one development area.

Reed addressed her decision during Wednesday’s meeting in response to an unspecified Facebook post that focused on the mayor’s vote against the project.

“As a City Council member and as a leader of the community, I go with the majority, that’s the process,” Reed said. “The majority [consensus] was to build Bluestone Town Center, so now it’s my job to make sure this project is successful.”

The project will be constructed in phases over the next decade.