Woodlands Development and Lending celebrates groundbreaking for new building in Parsons

PRESS RELEASE

City leaders, project partners, and community members gathered June 1 to celebrate the start of construction on the Five Rivers Building in Parsons.

PARSONS, W. Va., June 2026/ Woodlands Development & Lending officially marked the start of construction on the Five Rivers Building with a groundbreaking ceremony held Monday, June 1, 2026, on Main Street by the traffic light in Parsons. Located at the heart of Parsons, this project will provide eight high-quality, affordable housing apartments and one large commercial space.

Dave Clark, Executive Director of Woodlands, expressed his enthusiasm in bringing the project to reality as envisioned by the Parsons community, noting that Woodlands was honored to help make that vision reality.

Joining Woodlands to celebrate the occasion were Richard L. Lemons, Parsons City recorder; David “Coop” Cooper, CEO of Tucker Community Foundation; Parsons City Council member; Michael Rosenau;  Melissa D. Jones, Tucker Cunty Commissioner; ; Bryson VanNostrand, Project Architect (PA);  Todd Gunter, Director of Economic Development for Senator Shelley Moore Capito, local officials, project partners and community members.

Todd Gunter, representing Senator Shelly Moore Capito emphasized that this project was made possible because of the community, stating, “I want to be very clear that this is not the federal government’s money. This is not Senator Capito’s money, but this is your money. And we work hard to ensure that we put it into your community.” 

Woodlands is excited to work alongside the City of Parsons to extend affordable housing options in Tucker County.

The project was made possible by funding from WV Affordable Housing Fund, WV Department of Environmental Protection, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh, WV DARRE and the Northern Brownfields Assistance Center. Project partners Citizens Bank of West Virginia, Invest Appalachia, and the City of Parsons have been critical in getting us this far, and Project Architect Bryson VanNostrand from VanNostrand Architects will be overseeing construction along with Woodlands.

Woodlands Development and Lending works to develop affordable housing, drive downtown development, increase community capacity, and provide affordable small business support and lending services to the communities in our service area. Woodlands Development and Lending is an Elkins, WV based Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) and Financial Institution (CDFI) that serves Randolph, Barbour, and Tucker Counties.