The city of Norfolk adopted new approaches to address resilience, such as the Resilience Quotient and related point system, Neighborhood Resilience Overlays, “flexible” development standards and “clarified” processes. Five years into implementation, hear from the city aboutwhat works—the regulations that lead to the expected outcome—and what does not work—the regulations that either are ineffective, impossible or too difficult to implement, and at worst, result in negative outcomes. 

BEAD is Virginia’s opportunity to get the job done on closing the digital divide around gaps in broadband infrastructure in almost every county and city, both urban and rural across the Commonwealth, and also to begin to make meaningful investments in efforts to expand digital literacy and the use of internet in a safe manner. Learn about DHCD’s plans to finish the job on broadband access across the state, and how we are gearing up to tackle broadband adoption and digital literacy! This session will feature a facilitated discussion about how local community organizations and government leaders can address access and adoption needs in their own communities. 

The panel discussion aims to ignite a movement toward the widespread adoption of mixed-income housing as an innovative approach to address the affordable housing crisis. Our panelists will explore the successful Vienna mixed-income housing system for advocacy, policy reform, and community mobilization strategies to promote the implementation of mixed-income housing initiatives across the country and in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

By fostering collaboration and sharing innovative ideas, we seek to catalyze a movement that advocates for housing as a human right and works towards creating more equitable and inclusive communities in Virginia.

This session will feature a panel of homeless service providers with firsthand experience discussing the Housing First model and its effectiveness in addressing homelessness. The discussion will cover best practices, proven results, and expert opinions on the impact of this approach on ending homelessness.

Earlier this year, central Virginia established the Richmond Heirs Property Network, a first-of-its-kind program aimed at resolving issues of occupied, residential heirs property. Heirs Properties, also called tangled titles, prevent many low-income homeowners from accessing their home's wealth, property tax abatements, and other privaleges of homeownership.  In this session, participants will hear from program administrators about this unique program and how the Richmond Heirs Property Network is untangling these tricky titles. 

In the western half of Virginia, there is not currently a residential treatment facility serving pregnant and postpartum women and their newborn infant, despite the region having the second highest number of opioid deaths per capita in the Commonwealth. In this session, participants will hear from Restoration Housing and a group of Roanoke-based community partners about their work creating the first facility of it's kind in the region, finding creative and complex funding models, and overcoming challenges from acquisition to zoning. 

The Southside Community Development and Housing Corporation (SCDHC) launched  the "Emporia Pathways Project" in 2023 to promote racial equity, expand homeownership and spur economic development in Emporia. The guidebook provides information on progress, challenges, funding models, program structure, key partnerships, and overall impact. In this session, panelists will discuss the guidebook, including how rural localities and/or nonprofit housing agencies in Virginia can use to expand affordable housing supply and access in some of Virginia’s most underserved communities.

Virginia Tech housing faculty recently conducted a qualitative review of housing education to identify future needs, finding emerging themes of affordability, sustainability, multigenerational needs, and approach to design has not evolved to keep up with the needs of those seeking housing. In this session, panelists will delve into these challenges, including possible scenarios to address the crisis, the contributing factors, and what steps we can take to solve them.

The Supportive Housing Institute is a key CSH program in Virginia that aims to create quality affordable and supportive housing. CSH has partnered with key state partners to host three Institutes, resulting in over 900 new affordable housing units. These initiatives aim to improve housing and health outcomes, reduce the use of costly crisis care, and break the cycle of homelessness among individuals with low incomes and complex health challenges. This session will discuss how the institute has increased the availability of quality supportive housing through expanded partnerships, prioritization of regions with limited resources, and engagement of new developers

Most housing units that are committed as “affordable” in Arlington are priced at 60% of the area median income (AMI), which over $90,000 a year for a family of four. This definition of “affordable” excludes many people who are essential to the area’s workforce and economic success. The Arlington Community Foundation (ACF) advocates for affordability at 30% AMI, or “deep affordability.” In 2024, the county board invested $1 million in demonstration funding to “buy-down” apartments for rent that qualified for deep affordability – a first in Arlington’s history. In this session, participants will learn about ACF’s strategy to shift focus and investment to deeply affordable homes and how these strategies can inform your work to prevent the displacement of residents at the lowest income levels.

Communities across the country are receiving funding from opioid settlements to help with prevention, treatment, and recovery from the opioid epidemic. Across the commonwealth, the main challenge highlighted by people in the field is access to safe and stable housing. In this session, participants will hear national, state and local perspectives on how this funding can help connect marginalized people with stable housing and the services they need the support recovery.

Ettrick Landing is the Commonwealth’s first subdivision developed and managed by a community land trust.  It is a story of how a new development and home ownership model was able to be woven into the existing community by the community.  This session provides a candid look at how engagement efforts by the development partners were received and processed by residents.  Attendees will gain a greater perspective on how their own engagement efforts are perceived by community members and ways to build trust on the path to building new affordable housing within an existing community. 

Congregations and faith-based institutions are increasingly interested in how they might use their buildings and land for affordable housing, opening great opportunities to increase housing inventory. This session will provide an overview of changes happening in faith communities that will likely result in more opportunities for housing development, and examples of the challenges and opportunities congregations and developers experience in housing development partnerships. The workshop will share how Virginia Housing and local municipal leaders have supported housing development on faith-owned lands, and what is being done by advocates to educate congregations and policy makers. 

On August 30, 2021, the remnants of Hurricane Ida dropped 7 inches of rain in the small Southwest Virginia community of Hurley. The consequences were severe, including a flood that destroyed 19 homes, severely damaged 24 more, and tragically took one life. Less than a year later, similar circumstances struck Virginia’s Whitewood and Pilgrims Knob communities. Twenty-one homes were destroyed and 25 damaged, but fortunately, no lives were lost. Yet in both cases, FEMA did not provide individual homeowner assistance, and few affected residents received insurance payouts.

With its rich biodiversity and socio-economic fabric, Southwest Virginia offers a unique testbed for developing, testing, and refining innovative solutions that enhance environmental adaptability. Innovators have a rare opportunity to validate their technologies in real-world conditions, ensuring their solutions are both effective and scalable across different ecosystems and cultures. This living laboratory allows you to turn today's threats into tomorrow's sustainable opportunities, fostering a replicable model of adaptation.

The RISE Riverine Community Resilience Challenge was launched in 2024 to source innovative solutions to riverine flooding across the entire Southwest region of Virginia, including areas within LENOWISCO PDC, Cumberland Plateau PDC, Mount Rogers PDC, and the New River Valley Regional Commission. This session will present the winners of the RISE Riverine Challenge and their solutions being implemented in Southwest Virginia. Learn more about their solutions that will be highlighted in the Innovation Village!

Hear some of the Commonwealth’s leading economic development experts offer insights on the growing convergence of housing and economic development and innovative approaches to aligning housing supply with employment growth. Note that this session will feature interactive programming via anonymous polling.

Take a deep dive into the use of Affordable Housing Performance Grant programs to incentivize affordable housing development as this session will use the City of Richmond’s new Affordable Housing Performance Grant program as a case study – covering the program’s inception, application process and structure. Panelists will touch upon items to consider and advice for creating and administering this type of program in a community.

In the face of growing housing challenges, technology is opening new doors in how we design affordable housing. In this seminar, "Revolutionizing Affordable Housing: The Impact of Emerging Technologies on The Design Process," we will explore the latest innovations—from AI and data-driven technologies to Generative Design—that are reshaping the future of affordable housing. Discover how these tools are not only making housing more cost-effective and sustainable but also more adaptable to the needs of diverse communities. Whether you're an architect, urban planner, or housing advocate, this seminar will provide you with key insights into leveraging technology to drive impactful design solutions.

Housing continues to be local governments’ biggest challenge, but a major tool to unlock housing supply has actually been in their back pocket: zoning. Local governments across the country are reassessing their zoning ordinances to examine ways in which they can address their communities' need for diverse, affordable housing. At the same time, many communities are also seeing an opportunity to address the racial inequities that have persisted as a result of historic zoning practices. 

Localities in Focus

With an explicit focus on equity in their planning process, the City of Charlottesville recently adopted a new zoning ordinance to ensure future growth takes place in a coordinated, equitable manner consistent with the citywide plan’s vision. Combined with a new comprehensive plan, as well as an affordable housing plan, Charlottesville has taken on innovative new approaches to zoning and housing. 

The City of Richmond made headlines earlier in 2023 with the legalization of accessory dwelling units in all residential districts and the elimination of parking requirements. These reforms were  a prelude to the city’s Zoning Code Refresh, a potential three year process that they are currently undertaking. 

At the same time, Arlington County unanimously passed their “Missing Middle” zoning ordinance in 2023. This ordinance equated to the legalization of more diverse housing opportunities in historically single-family detached only zoning districts. The reforms saw major opposition and still face legal challenges. 

At this panel session, learn more from these three localities at different stages in their zoning ordinance reforms. What have been the impacts of zoning reform in Charlottesville? How is Richmond thinking about zoning reform for housing production? How is Arlington County doing with their changes? What can these three localities, all three with ever increasing demand and low supply, learn from each other, and what insights can they provide to other localities in the Commonwealth interested in zoning reform?

Since the great recession and home foreclosure crisis of 2007-2008, local communities have struggled to rebuild pre-2007 homeownership rates.  Homeownership rates for low- and moderate-income families have suffered the most as economic pressures on land and home prices soared in both the low-interest rate environment and the more recent rising interest rate environment. The federal government largely has not developed new affordable homeownership finance tools to address this crisis. Yet, between 2011 and 2022 shared equity homeownership models, such as cooperatives and community land trusts have grown by 30%, according to Shelterforce Magazine. 

ROC USA and ROC USA Capital has been responsible for a substantial portion of the growth in housing cooperatives since 2011, establishing 205 Resident Owned Manufactured Home Communities (“ROCs”) in 21 states. ROC USA, ROC USA Capital and VHFA are piloting a resident ownership program in Virginia and are reaching out to other state-based partners.  

What is a ROC? Why is preserving and improving Manufactured Home Communities as ROCs important in the broader affordable housing preservation discussion? What are the key resident empowerment, community development and financing drivers of successful ROCs? What will make ROCs most successful in Virginia. These and other key questions about the resident ownership model for manufactured home communities will be discussed in this session. 

Leaders from ROC USA, including Mary O’Hara and ROC USA Capital Managing Director Michael Sloss, will share their 16 years of experience preserving and financing manufactured home communities through ROC USA’s resident ownership model.

The Military Economic Development Advisory Committee (MEDAC) are established to enhance the coordination with the local military base commanders and their various installation tenants. Hear from MEDACs from across the Hampton Roads Region as they highlight the history and function of the council, council efforts around affordable housing, workforce development and homelessness and how you can get connected with your local MEDAC organization.

Historically, Zero Energy housing has often been beyond the financial reach of many homeowners, particularly first-time buyers. In a bold response to this trend, VCU’s inaugural Solar Decathlon Team, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, has designed an innovative Net Zero multigenerational attached housing scheme aimed at serving lower-income communities in Southside Richmond.

Led by Laura Battaglia, assistant professor at the VCU School of the Arts, and supported by her students, the team presents their groundbreaking solution: the Reimagined Rowhouse. In this presentation, they will explore the collaborative process that enabled their multidisciplinary team to develop a design that received high praise from judges for its sustainability and architectural excellence.

This presentation will showcase a comprehensive examination of architecture and engineering, highlighting key aspects such as building envelope design, energy efficiency, grid interactivity, life cycle analysis, health considerations, market viability, and community impact.

The connection between economic competitiveness and housing is becoming increasingly important, with localities driving innovation to address rising costs and consumer demand. Henrico County is leading the way by improving housing conditions, providing tax relief, and attracting employees through homeownership incentives. The county has invested in a local housing trust fund to stimulate affordable and workforce housing construction. In this session, participants will hear about how Henrico developed a coordinated and strategic approach to address housing issues spanning preservation, revitalization and construction.

The day after significant pro-housing changes were passed into law in Arlington, Charlottesville and Roanoke, multiple lawsuits were filed by concerned citizens. In this session, participants will hear from attorneys and advocates on how they are navigating the experience, the ways they are preparing for the challenge, and this little-discussed aspect of housing-related zoning changes. 

Join Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at VCU Dr. John Accordino and Virginia Main Street Program Manager Courtney Mailey as they discuss their case study research of Virginia communities who have some measure of integration between their community development and economic development work. This session will detail efforts taken by taken by Culpeper, Danville and Harrisonburg to integrate economic development and community development work to produce better outcomes overall for their communities.

The New River Valley Regional Housing Trust Fund - the first of its kind in Virginia - awarded its first funding recipients this year. In this session, participants will learn about how a regional housing trust fund was created, and the national research and best practices that led to the first round of funding. 

This session will explore the intricacies of getting started in affordable housing. Session participants will learn about important financing tools, including the CHDO model, community involvement, partnerships, and the significance of these relationships for successful projects.

In April 2024, HUD proposed a new rule regulating background screening in HUD-assisted housing, impacting housing authorities, developers, and tenants. In this session, panelists will discuss the background factors that led to this new rule, the details, and offer practical tips for impacted parties.  

Join VCDC's Mission Elevation Program for an engaging, hands-on workshop designed to help organizations strengthen their internal work to maximize their external impact! Session participants will learn about the innovative new program, including practical tools to enhance organizational stability, and will leave the session with at least one practical strategy to implement in their organizations immediately. 

People Incorporated partnered with the town of Culpeper and Culpeper County to secure a donation of public-owned land for affordable housing development in 2022. This session will use Lightfoot Apartments as a case study, highlighting how local government participation and nonprofit capacity can overcome challenges in affordable housing development. 

The Inflation Reduction Act provided $27 billion through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) to catalyze clean energy investments in low-income communities, including $14 billion through the National Clean Investment Fund (NCIF). Climate United received nearly $7 bilion from this NCIF funding, focusing on partnering with first mortgage lenders to offer affordable, high-liability debt products that require decarbonization of buildings. This session will discuss Climate United's financing products for affordable multifamily housing, and financing to decarbonize buildings to stabilize property operations and ensure healthier living spaces for residents. 

Floyd County is a rural community with great character and even greater housing need. In 2020, they partnered with SERCAP and the New River Valley Regional Commission to undertake a scatter-site housing rehab project, leveraging financial and relational capital to tackle housing needs in a rural community. In this session, participants will hear about how this group of panelists created this program to be both sustainable and effective. 

Arlington recently completed a Homeownership Study evaluating program performance that ultimately resulted in recommendations for modifications to support prospective and existing homeowners. These recommendations include opportunities that make homeownership more attainable, affordable and sustainable, such as increased production of homeownership supply, an improved downpayment assistance model, updates to existing affordable dwelling programs, the addition of home improvement programs, and more. Participants in this session will hear details of the Arlington Homeownership Study, including a breakdown of the recommended modifications.

The Northern Virginia Affordable Housing Alliance (NVAHA) and the Alliance for Housing Solutions (AHS) have merged to address the affordable housing crisis. The merger aims to improve advocacy, programming, and access to affordable housing, mirroring the strengths of grassroots support in Northern Virginia. This session will detail the unification process, lessons learned in the process, where the organizations are now, and where they hope to go in the future.

In 2020, Chesapeake committed to a unified human infrastructure plan known as the Chesapeake Thrives Plan for Community Well-Being. The plan established a framework for addressing city- and neighborhood-specific challenges while tackling universal issues and providing individual services to residents with a focus on housing accessibility and sustainable affordability. 

DHCD is taking the Commonwealth’s Digital Opportunity Statewide Plan and putting it into action. Learn about initiatives and programs addressing digital needs from literacy to devices. This session will feature a facilitated discussion about funding opportunities and how communities can address their digital needs. 

Nearly a quarter of occupied homes in Virginia are part of a homeowner association (HOA), creating barriers through dues and rules restricting the use, size, occupancy and accessory dwelling units of homes. In this session, participants will hear from attorneys and advocates who are thinking through how HOAs can pose barriers to the proliferation of new, affordable housing in communities of opportunity."

The Blighted, Abandoned, Underutilized, and Dilapidated (BAUD) program is a unique collaboration bedtween the Marion EDA, the town of Marion and the Mt. Rogers PDC aimed at addressing the unsustainability of traditional rehabilitation programs, the issue of widespread deterioration and treating blight before it sperads. Participants in this session will learn more about the program, including how it renovates inadequate housing and moves renters into homeownership, all while removing barriers for future development.

Across the country, more and more for-profit developers are partnering with emerging developers and housing authorities to redevelop public housing. In this session, panelists will share project examples of various partnerships between a for-profit, emerging developer and a housing authority, explaining how the partnership was formed and the benefits each partner is receiving while participating. 

This session will explore the twin pillars essential to successful inclusive housing: robust financing mechanisms and deep community engagement. Panelists will discuss a variety of financing options, including public and private sources and innovative grants and proven effective strategies for fostering resident involvement in housing projects. Session participants will gain valuable insights into how financial acumen coupled with community-focused strategies can lead to more effective and sustainable inclusive housing initiatives.

A recent report by HOME of Virginia reveals significant disparities in home values between majority Black and non-Black neighborhoods, despite equal physical characteristics and socioeconomic opportunities. The presentation will explore the root causes of these inequities, the challenges of raising home values in under-valued neighborhoods, and displacement risks for residents, as well as the perspectives of homeowners in majority-black neighborhood.

What do you do when you want to build housing in your community but you do not know where to start? Hear from Angela Whitehead as she shares her story of bringing her dream of building affordable senior housing to a reality. Whitehead will share the successes, challenges and lessons learned as she became a housing developer in Virginia Beach.

Historically, Zero Energy housing has often been beyond the financial reach of many homeowners, particularly first-time buyers. In a bold response to this trend, VCU’s inaugural Solar Decathlon Team, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, has designed an innovative Net Zero multigenerational attached housing scheme aimed at serving lower-income communities in Southside Richmond.

Led by Laura Battaglia, assistant professor at the VCU School of the Arts, and supported by her students, the team presents their groundbreaking solution: the Reimagined Rowhouse. In this presentation, they will explore the collaborative process that enabled their multidisciplinary team to develop a design that received high praise from judges for its sustainability and architectural excellence.

This presentation will showcase a comprehensive examination of architecture and engineering, highlighting key aspects such as building envelope design, energy efficiency, grid interactivity, life cycle analysis, health considerations, market viability, and community impact.