From his new 13th floor apartment inside the Prichard building, Drew Ciccarello has an enviable view of downtown Huntington, West Virginia. But, he doesn’t plan to spend his days inside the one-bedroom, top-floor unit he shares with Lucy, his chatty African grey parrot. He expects to be on the go.

“It’s a place to live, but it’s more of a stopping point, more than anything,” he said. “I’m fully committed to being active in the community, teaching classes and taking classes, and getting involved in the arts.” 

Ciccarello is one of dozens of seniors who recently moved into 108 apartments that became available following years of painstaking and detailed redevelopment efforts for the building once known as the Prichard Hotel. The $50 million overhaul of the 100-year-old property, once a vibrant social hub and home to John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign headquarters in the state, was funded by a combination of historic tax credits, federal grants from Housing and Urban Development, and city and state development funds. 

The reopening of the Prichard wasn’t just about restoring a historic building. Local partners spent years working to bring affordable housing back downtown and create a place where older residents could stay rooted in the community they helped build.

Local leaders and nonprofit developer Cornerstone Community Development spent years working to bring the Prichard building back to life. To make it possible, they braided together historic tax credits, federal housing funds, and state and local investment, with regional partner Invest Appalachia helping assemble the financing needed to move the project forward.

“It’s kind of surreal,” Nikki Thomas, Cornerstone Community Development’s president, said of the project coming to fruition. “It’s very rewarding to give seniors a place to live.”

West Virginia is home to one of the nation’s oldest populations. About 1 in 5 West Virginians are at least 65 years old. The state faces a housing shortage like many other states across the country, but it also sees a high demand for senior housing. The Prichard building, where rental rates are subsidized by HUD funding, offers Huntington seniors an affordable community with historic significance and tailored support. 

Beyond apartments, the community includes ground-floor retail that is open to the public, as well as healthcare for residents provided by the Marshall Health Network and an adult daycare that is open to the public and run by Hospice of Huntington. The building also includes commercial spaces for professional and medical offices. 

Ciccarello, a retired professor who once traveled the world as a Peace Corps volunteer, appreciates the new crop of senior housing. But he also sees value in the redevelopment because of how it will impact Huntington, a community he adores for its “big little town” charm.

“The aesthetics are a huge benefit. You’re taking an old, dilapidated building and turning it into another building of which the community can be proud. But also the business side of it, for the same reasons, you’re taking an eyesore and turning it into something where businesses are contributing to the economic benefit of the community,” he said. “And, you’re doing it in a way that makes it convenient for folks to be involved in the community and have a lot of pride as a tenant.”

Ciccarello, who earned his PhD in Virginia, plans to teach a few classes and spend time with his mother and stepfather who also live in Huntington. When he wants to go out for coffee, he can grab a cup from the first-floor coffee shop inside the Prichard building, and if he needs a prescription, he can pick it up from the pharmacy located inside the building. 

The redevelopment does more than create apartments. It brings healthcare, small businesses, and daily foot traffic back into the heart of downtown. For longtime residents, it means staying connected to the place they call home. For Huntington, it means a historic building once sitting empty is again part of the city’s economic and civic life.

“I think the Prichard could be a shining star for other cities around the state on how to address a big problem in housing and do it in a way that benefits everyone in the community, not just the people living there,” he said. “You’re within walking distance of almost anything you can possibly want as far as needing to live. It’s a tremendous idea that’s come to fruition.”