JAMES CITY COUNTY — Last Thursday, June 8, Governor Ralph Northam announced more than $21 million in Affordable and Special Needs Housing loans for 24 projects across Virginia, creating or preserving 1,266 affordable housing units for low-income and extremely low-income households.
The funding will improve access to affordable housing, reduce homelessness, provide permanent supportive housing options for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and complete energy efficiency updates in affordable housing units, according to a July 8 news release from the Office of the Governor.
Of the new housing, Powhatan Terrace Townhomes, from the Housing Partnership Inc. in James City County was allocated $700,000 from the Virginia Housing Trust Fund (VHTF) and $500,000 from the National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF).
According to a PowerPoint presentation from April 2020, the townhomes will be located off of Jamestown Road, roughly two miles from the Jamestown-Scotland Ferry.
Powhatan Terrace Townhomes will build 36 two and three-bedroom rental townhomes spread across six two-story buildings. The development will serve individuals and families with incomes less than 60 percent of the AMI.
The site also features a playground, greenspace, and a walking path. Five units will meet Universal Design requirements and all buildings will meet Energy Star standards.
Colonial Behavioral Health will provide permanent supportive housing services to residents with intellectual or developmental disabilities or serious mental illness. Housing and financial counseling services will be available to all residents. The development will also have a community room with free wi-fi for residents.
The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) administers Affordable and Special Needs Housing (ASNH) loans, which combine state and federal resources to provide a simplified and comprehensive application process.
Funding comes from four main sources: the federal HOME Investment Partnerships Program, the federal National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF), the Virginia Housing Trust Fund (VHTF), and Housing Innovations in Energy Efficiency (HIEE) funds.
In this round, DHCD awarded approximately $1.6 million in HOME funding, $1.1 million in NHTF funding, $12.6 million in VHTF funding, and $6.2 million in HIEE funding, according to the news release.
Governor Northam and the General Assembly invested an historic $70.7 million in the VHTF this fiscal year, which provides financing for housing construction projects that create or preserve affordable housing units, reduce the cost of affordable housing, and increase homeownership.
VHTF is a key source of financing to support moderate- and-low-income families in addition to providing homeless reduction grants for rapid re-housing and longer-term housing solutions for individuals experiencing chronic homelessness.
ASNH loans are awarded through a competitive process. Forty-one applications requesting over $45 million were received for this round of funding.
The funded projects will leverage over $307 million in additional federal, state, local, and private lending resources.
