Last week, Business Facilities Magazine, a leader and trusted source of economic development news, data, and trends for site selection professionals, has awarded the City of Richmond, Virginia, and the Economic Development Authority (EDA) of the City of Richmond a 2024 Economic Development Organization (EDO) Awards for Richmond’s Affordable Housing Performance Grant Program. The Awards Edition of Business Facilities Magazine will be published and distributed the first week of June.

About the Affordable Housing Performance Grant Program

Under the leadership of Mayor Levar M. Stoney and Richmond City Council, the Affordable Housing Performance Grant Program is a critical component of the City's comprehensive response to the City's affordable housing shortage. In the first 12 months of the program, the City approved seven performance grants, which will lead to the creation of 1,231 new, dedicated, affordable multifamily units.

"Affordable housing and economic development are intrinsically linked, and this award validates the innovative approach the City and the EDA are taking to encourage the development of quality affordable housing for Richmonders," said Mayor Levar M. Stoney. "Richmond is honored to be recognized by Business Facilities for a program that helps provide housing and security for Richmond's greatest economic development asset – its people."

The program leverages new authority granted by the Commonwealth of Virginia that allows EDAs, in conjunction with their local governing bodies, to offer grants for the construction of affordable housing projects, something it previously could not do. Richmond is leading the way in Virginia, quickly launching this innovative new program following the Commonwealth's action.

The Affordable Housing Performance Grant Program is designed to induce the private development of new, affordable multifamily units by providing annual grants to offset a development's incremental real estate tax burden for an initial 15-year period, with the potential for an additional 15 years of benefit.  Performance grants are approved by Richmond City Council and the EDA Board of Directors and are administered by the City's Department of Housing and Community Development and the EDA.

"The Housing and Community Development Department is excited to collaborate with the EDA on the addition of this innovative tool to the City's toolbox to expand affordable housing opportunities in Richmond," said Sherrill Hampton, Director of Housing and Community Development for the City of Richmond.

"The EDA is pleased to partner with the City to offer this new program," said EDA Executive Director Leonard Sledge. "Not only is the program helping provide needed affordable housing, but it is also supporting revitalization by spurring new development on underutilized properties."

For more information on the Affordable Housing Performance Grant Program, visit the program wepage.