New $2.7M Funeral Home Project Coming To Newport News’ Southeast Community This Spring – Daily Press

Newport News celebrated the groundbreaking this week of a new funeral home that’s part of a redevelopment effort in the city’s Southeast community.

Reverend Christopher C. Carter, Sr. purchased the land for the new C.C. Carter Funeral Home at the corner of Marshall Avenue and 39th Street from the Newport News Economic Development Authority in the fall. Construction is slated to begin in the spring.

“I’m extremely excited to be able to keep this business in the Southeast Community,” Carter said in a news release. “I look forward to continuing to hire from the area and serving families with their funeral needs.”

The funeral home will be situated near one of the gateways to the Marshall-Ridley area, which is being redeveloped with a $30 million federal Choice Neighborhood Initiative grant. The grant exists to revitalize areas with distressed public housing and provide dollars to rebuild the surrounding area.

Carter has agreed to leave part of the land for future signage for the neighborhood, and the quality of the new building and landscaping will “provide an attractive aesthetic that welcomes people into the CNI area,” project manager Matt Johnson said in an email.

The new location will sit on 5.32 acres of land. The funeral home will have 10,000 square feet of space with enough seating to accommodate 300 people, according to a news release from the EDA. The project is expected to cost $2.7 million.

The property will also feature an off-street parking lot, Johnson said. At the existing Roanoke Avenue location, visitors have had to rely on street parking.

“It is important to keep businesses like C.C. Carter Funeral Home in the Southeast Community whenever possible and feasible, so they can continue to serve as a catalyst for ongoing, positive change,” Johnson said.

Carter is also planning to add a banquet hall facility in the future.

In September, he told the planning commission he thought the facility, which will be used to host events, could create jobs for 28 people.

The funeral home, which is currently located at 3314 Roanoke Avenue, has been in the Southeast community since 1941. It started under the name Gilmore Funeral Home.

Carter, a pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in Hampton, took ownership 10 years ago.

“We are grateful for the company’s commitment to remain in the City of Newport News, specifically in the Southeast Community, where it has a long-standing history,” said Florence Kingston, the City’s Director of Development.