Workforce Housing Guidance to Support Economic Development and New Home Construction in Virginia • Virginia Mercury

Virginia will help finance housing development near major business developments, Gov. Glenn Younkgin announced this week.

A new executive order, following an announcement about a major manufacturing development near Danville, sets a goal of investing $75 million in localities looking to strengthen housing supply coupled with new job creation over the next five years.

“The private sector is ready to step in and meet the needs of our growing workforce with much-needed workforce housing,” Youngkin said in a news release announcing his order. “(This) announcement advances these efforts by accelerating workforce housing development and requiring local governments to support the housing growth Virginia needs.”

How the financing will stimulate housing supply

With a shortage of approximately 200,000 affordable homes and a housing demand of approximately 4 million homes in total, according to a study and state government analysisthe new investments are intended to help promote construction.

Youngkin expects his new order to help create about 5,000 units.

As part of Implementation Decree 42the Workforce Housing Investment Program will consist of loans, grants and grants for municipalities and nonprofit organizations to develop new housing near new employers in regions of the state. It also states that localities planning to use the Virginia Business Ready Sites Program must submit housing plans to demonstrate how they will accommodate job growth.

An example of this could be near the Berry Hill megasite in Pittsylvania County, which covers more than 3,500 acres near Danville and has emerged as a development-ready location that could attract companies to the area. Prior to Youngkin’s announcement of workforce housing, Tennessee-based Microporous announced plans for a battery factory on the site that is expected to create more than 2,000 jobs.

Del. Danny Marshall, R-Danville, said in an interview this summer that he expected the area could be ripe for tapping into various financing options to address the convergence of job growth and housing problems.

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Macaulay Porter, the governor’s deputy communications director, noted that while the funding will be available statewide, “places with the greatest imbalance between job growth and housing” will benefit the most.

Analysis from the state’s housing department found that this characteristic generally applies to areas in Southwest Virginia.

Meanwhile, the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission also had one workforce housing financing program during the summer. That pilot program has approximately $2 million in cash to distribute to applicants on an ongoing basis.

A workforce housing pilot project is launching to support Southern and Southwest Virginia

A 2022 study by Virginia Housing and Community Development noted the state’s condition fastest growing regions over the past decade, Northern Virginia, the northern Shenandoah Valley and Richmond in central Virginia. Conversely, the state’s rural areas saw job losses. These figures could change in future census data as economic developments in rural areas attract or retain populations.

While part of her district includes urban areas, Sen. Lashresce Aird, D-Petersburg, previously told The Mercury that she expects rural parts of her district could benefit from workforce and housing development.

“Housing continues to be a big pressure on how we get workers here,” she said.

With the 2025 legislative session looming, lawmakers will continue to work on this various other housing proposals – ranging from preserving existing affordable housing, to rental assistance or protections, to supporting ways municipalities can leverage federal funds for housing development.