Renaissance Village aims to revitalize Welch with teacher housing, retail space

In downtown Welch, Renaissance Village rose on the former Best’s Furniture site after asbestos removal in May 2016 and a demolition ceremony on June 9, 2016, delivering 16 one- and two-bedroom apartments and 9,800 square feet of street-level commercial space. Upforgrowth reports the building opened in June 2022 and is now fully occupied, and developers bill it as the first multistory apartment building in Welch in more than 50 years.

The mixed-use project is a product of Reconnecting McDowell, a public-private partnership led by the American Federation of Teachers that recruited Building America to assemble financing. "Financing for the $9.3 million Renaissance Village project included $9 million in New Markets Tax Credits from Building America," project materials state, and the NMTC allocation was made by Renaissance Village Building America CDE, a subsidiary of the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust.

Renaissance Village was built with union labor; Nmtccoalition projects the construction will generate 98,950 hours of union construction work and $2.6 million in state and federal tax revenues. "Renaissance Village will be built with 100% union labor, generating 98,950 hours of union construction work and $2.6 million in state and federal tax revenues," the project profile reads, highlighting the labor and fiscal impact anticipated from the $9.3 million capital stack.

The building stacks two floors of apartments above two floors of commercial and community space. Tug River Health Association is a named tenant for the retail level, and Reconnecting McDowell will lease space for its own operations alongside "a mix of local unions, community groups and other local organizations," according to project documents. McDowell Connections AFT describes the apartments as "now move-in ready" and lists rental rates at $625 for a one-bedroom and $825 for a two-bedroom unit, with showings available at 304-344-2679 or 800-222-9838.

Renaissance Village was explicitly marketed to McDowell County Public School teachers and other professionals with an affordability mandate tied to teacher pay. Project materials state rents are targeted so a first-year public school teacher would pay no more than 30 percent of gross monthly income, and Nmtccoalition says, "These 16 units will modernize the teacher housing stock, creating an opportunity to engage educators in the local economy and ultimately strengthen the quality of education local students receive."

The housing intervention addresses a steep affordability gap in the region. Upforgrowth cites research showing the average teacher can afford only 12 percent of homes for sale within commuting distance of their school, down from 30 percent in 2019, and notes long commutes from neighboring counties and flood-prone lowlands constrain local development. Reconnecting McDowell dates back to 2011 and worked with Building America beginning in 2012; construction began in 2019, with sources variously noting Spring 2019 and August 2019 as start dates before the 2022 opening.

Educators who moved because of Renaissance Village tell a local story of impact. Terri Kennedy, a special education teacher who returned to McDowell after years commuting from Wyoming County, said, "I have roots in McDowell and taught there for nine years before COVID-19, commuting from Wyoming County. But I started thinking I really needed to go back home. There's a lot of trauma in McDowell, and we see a lot of behavior issues. I realized I really needed to go back and be where I'm supposed to be." Project leaders present Renaissance Village as both housing policy and downtown economic strategy as Reconnecting McDowell seeks to anchor teachers in Welch and activate ground-floor retail. For more information or tenant inquiries, Reconnecting McDowell can be reached through its social channels @ReconnectMcD or by contacting Debra Elmore at 304-552-5766.