VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) — A major investment aims to help address the need for workforce housing.
On Thursday, Governor Glenn Youngkin announced the Workforce Housing Investment Program, a Virginia Housing initiative.
According to a release, this initiative will invest $75 million over five years with the potential to catalyze $750 million and build 5,000 units of workforce housing through economic development projects across Virginia.
“With record employer relocations and expansions in the Commonwealth, over $85 billion in capital investment, nearly 250,000 jobs created, and a reversal of recent trends on net-out migration, it is clear that Virginia is growing and we need to make sure the supply of housing can meet our surging demand,” said Youngkin. “The private sector is ready to step in and meet the needs of our growing workforce with much-needed workforce housing, and today’s announcement advances these efforts by accelerating workforce housing development and requiring local governments to support the housing growth that Virginia needs.”
The program will specifically aim to catalyze investment in housing for middle-income workers in communities that are experiencing growth.
“Affordable housing changes lives, and it also attracts businesses that grow and add new jobs. This new, flexible program allows us to magnify our collective impact through partnering directly in the communities that need assistance for middle-income workers,” said CEO of Virginia Housing Tammy Neale.
For fiscal year 2025, Virginia Housing has set aside $15 million of its net revenues, and the not-for-profit organization plans to repeat the program funding each year for the next five years.
The release says the program will specifically accelerate the development of affordable housing for individuals and families making 80 to 120 percent of Area Median Income. For rural areas, it could assist families making up to 150 percent of the AMI.
Through it, Virginia Housing will provide loans, loan subsidies and grants of up to $3 million to localities and nonprofits within a 30-minute drive of a new or expanding business to develop housing for workers. And up to $5 million may be available for projects creating at least 500 new jobs.
Depending on the nature of the award, the allocated $15 million could leverage $100 million of Virginia Housing Financing for housing development and $150 million in total development costs.
“The Workforce Housing Investment Program ensures that companies moving to Virginia have a set of tools to work with communities in development of housing for their workforce,” said Secretary of Commerce and Trade Caren Merrick. “We will support business growth and encourage increased development of workforce housing for Virginia families.”
Eligibility may also be affected by the locality’s distress level. For a non-distressed locality, 100 jobs will need to be created; for a distressed locality, there need to be 50 jobs created, and in a double-distressed locality, 25 jobs need to be created.
Virginia Housing says applications will be scored by a cross-agency team including it, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, and the Department of Housing and Community Development.
Awards will be announced by June 30.
Virginia Housing will host a webinar on this program on Dec. 17 at 2 p.m. To register for that, click here.
For more information on the program, click here.
