Parkersburg's newest apartment project has moved from paperwork to dirt.
Spire Development, Inc. announced the groundbreaking of Joy Lofts in an Oct. 13 social media post. The developer called it "our newest workforce rental housing community and third development in the Parkersburg market." The post thanked the project's financing partners, the West Virginia Housing Development Fund and CAHEC, along with the "architects, engineers, contractors, and the many others whose efforts helped move Joy Lofts from concept to construction."
On its Joy Lofts project page, the Columbus, Ohio-based developer describes the project as a general-occupancy housing community. It says the project received 9% housing tax credits from the West Virginia Housing Development Fund in 2025 and will open in 2027.
What's being built
The clearest picture of the project comes from a federal environmental notice the Housing Development Fund published in the spring, available on the West Virginia Legals public notice site.
According to that notice, Joy Lofts involves new construction of two buildings: Building A, three stories, and Building B, two stories. Together they hold 25 low-income units serving families. The site covers about 1.726 acres in the vicinity of 70 Joy Street in Parkersburg, Wood County, in Census Tract 8.02. The notice describes the surroundings as a mix of businesses, other multifamily housing and single-family houses.
The development entity is Joy Lofts L.P., an Ohio limited partnership.
The labels differ depending on who's talking. The government notice calls them low-income units, while Spire's own materials use "workforce" and "general occupancy." That isn't unusual. Tax credit rentals typically carry income limits while serving working households, and the notice doesn't spell out the specific income limits or rents.
Following the money
Affordable housing deals are built from layers of financing, and this one is no exception. The notice put the estimated total project cost at $8,630,565. By simple division, that's roughly $345,000 per unit, all-in, including land, soft costs and financing as well as construction.
Funding sources listed in the notice include low-income housing tax credit equity, a Housing Development Fund multifamily loan, HOME Investment Partnerships Program loans and a deferred developer fee. The Fund will provide a $400,000 HOME loan, and the City of Parkersburg will provide a $350,000 HOME loan. Both will pay for part of the construction cost.
Because federal HOME dollars are involved, the project had to clear a federal environmental review. The Fund determined the project would have no significant impact on the human environment, so a full environmental impact statement wasn't required. The notice said the Fund would ask the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to release the HOME funds on or after April 29, 2026.
CAHEC, the Raleigh, N.C.-based equity investor Spire thanked in its post, lists Joy Lofts among its 2026 closed properties, describing it as new construction with 25 units for families.
None of the public documents name the general contractor or the subcontractors on the job, and the developer's post thanked contractors without naming them.
Why it matters for Contractors
Joy Lofts is a textbook example of how much of West Virginia's new rental housing gets built: 9% tax credits awarded by the Housing Development Fund, layered with state and local HOME loans and a private equity partner. Projects financed this way come with their own expectations. There's more paperwork, cost certification at the end, and federal requirements that ride along with HOME money. Subcontractors bidding this kind of work should ask early what reporting and documentation the job requires.
The bigger takeaway is the pipeline. The Housing Development Fund awards housing tax credits to new rounds of projects across the state. Joy Lofts' own timeline, a 2025 award and a 2027 opening, shows how long the gap between award and move-in can be. Following those awards, along with the HOME environmental notices that come before construction, is one of the best ways for contractors to see multifamily work coming in their area well before a bid package goes out.
For Mid-Ohio Valley trades, a two-building, 25-unit job running toward a 2027 opening means work for site crews, framers, roofers, mechanical and electrical contractors and finish trades over the coming months. And with Spire calling this its third Parkersburg development, it's a developer that keeps coming back to the market.