Virginia Union University will develop Northside housing

What's happening: VUU plans to use the funds from Steinbridge Group to build 130-200 market-rate housing units on around 100 acres it owns at Brook and Overbrook roads.

• The university and the investment firm will co-own the properties and share in any profits, a VUU spokesperson tells Axios.
• It's unclear how much of the housing will be apartments vs. single-family homes, or if some of the development could become commercial space. A detailed plan is in the works, and construction should begin this year.

Context: This is Steinbridge Group's first outlay as part of the firm's $100 million commitment to helping HBCUs develop underused real estate holdings.

The big picture: The partnership is VUU's first step in implementing the $500 million, 10-year master plan the school unveiled last month.

• A key part of that plan is creating an identity for the campus-adjacent Chamberlayne corridor that is inclusive of the HBCU that anchors the neighborhood and the Black middle class families that have long called it home, BizSense reported.

Worth noting: VUU was founded in 1865 to give educational opportunities to formerly enslaved Virginians.

• Last fall it enrolled more than 2,000 students, the highest enrollment in the school's history.