New leader in a hard time

-- Christopher J. Corrada has been in the land-development business seven years.

He was a rookie for 2001 recession. For this one, he's spokesman for local builders.

Corrada, 31, became president this year, the youngest in recent memory, of the Home Building Association of Richmond, as the industry faces its worst slump in decades.

"He's very personable, smart, energetic," said Gray Stettinius of Tuckahoe Creek Construction in Goochland County and immediate past president of the association.

"With the challenges facing this industry, he's a good person to be at the helm."

Corrada is vice president at East West Partners of Virginia Inc., which developed the Brandermill, Woodlake and River's Bend on the James residential communities in Chesterfield County.

He is a project manager at the company's Patriots Landing development on 255 acres in New Kent County.

The development has been approved for 640 houses, ranging from $200,000 town houses to $800,000 single-family houses. About 90 houses are built or under construction there.

Although Midlothian-based East West Partners has focused on developing large communities, Corrada was tasked to come up with smaller infill projects, such as the Lofts at Cary Place, a condominium and commercial project on West Cary Street near the Fan District in Richmond. Patriots Landing has been under way for three years, about the time that the industry started heading south.

"The industry has been in a correction for three years," Corrada said. "Prices have come down considerably from their peak in 2005 and that's a good thing."

Housing has become more affordable, he said. "Our challenge is to remain affordable and make sure we have products available to the majority of the population."

The industry has made the right corrections. Plus, mortgage interest rates are low, setting the stage for a recovery, Corrada said.

"Now we're dealing with the overall economy," he said. "All the right tools are in place, now it's a consumer confidence issue."

Nationally, housing starts and permits for new construction fell to record lows in November, the most recent figures available, according the U.S. Commerce Department.

In the Richmond area, the number of permits to build single-family houses last year was thousands less than in 2005, when houses couldn't be built fast enough.

"Yes, housing starts are down, but that is a good thing," Corrada said.

"It means our inventory is coming down. A six-month supply [of new and previously-owned houses for sale] would be good and we are not far from that."

In all, 3,336 permits were issued in the Richmond area through the 12-month period ending in September, the most recent data available, compared with 6,333 for all of 2005, according to Integra Realty Resource Richmond.

"I think the demand for housing is there," said Thomas R. Tyler, a senior analyst with Integra Realty. "People want to buy houses, but there is so much going on in the overall economy that's unprecedented."

The Richmond area never saw the huge building boom that occurred in the District of Columbia, Florida, Nevada and Arizona, Corrada said.

"We did have big price escalation," he said. "Prices went up fast. We overpriced, we didn't overbuild. As prices come down, it will be easier for us to recover."

Expect to see a general shift in thinking toward smaller, less expensive houses, Corrada said.

A few years ago, "people stretched to get mortgages that many couldn't afford chasing the big house . . . We will see smaller, more affordable products, and that is good."

The recession will make everyone re-evaluate what's important, Corrada said. "Employment will be a concern." If people lose their jobs, they won't be able to make their house payments.

Still, employment here is better than in many parts of the country.

Although unemployment in the Richmond area hit 5 percent in November, up from 3.2 percent a year earlier, it is lower than the U.S. rate of 6.5 percent.

The local home building association supports Fix Housing First, a lobbying effort for a housing stimulus package also backed by the National Association of Home Builders and the National Association of Manufacturers.

"It's in everyone's best interest to have home building succeed," Corrada said.

"There are a lot of jobs tied to home building. We need to do whatever we can to get the contractors and subcontractors back to work."

The recovery will be slow, Corrada said. "I personally think we are at the bottom, but we won't zip back; 2009 will be like 2008, but I don't think it will be worse."
Contact Carol Hazard at (804) 775-8023 or .