Developer buys Union Mission building

NORFOLK, Va. - Norfolk officials made a major development announcement Wednesday. The Union Mission homeless shelter building Downtown has been sold to an out-of-state developer.

Before it became the Union Mission, the 100-year-old building housed the Navy YMCA. US Development Company out of Columbia, SC plans to turn it into an 80 unit apartment complex, called The Rockefeller. It will feature indoor and outdoor pools, a terrace and a garden.

The Union Mission has already moved part of its homeless ministry to another Norfolk location. With Wednesday's announcement , Union Mission Executive Director  Linda Bashford Vaughan said the ministry can now move ahead with its plans. "The last part of the project is to build a permanent men's shelter and of course the sale of the building was very important in us being able to begin that project. we still need $4.2 million to raise in our capital campaign to complete so we can begin construction."

The building restoration is expected to take 20 months and cost several million dollars.