Community Development & Revitalization

The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) is committed toward creating safe, affordable, and prosperous communities in which to live, work, and do business in Virginia.  Community Development programs focus on this mission through a comprehensive mix of programs tailored to support economic development, revitalization, infrastructure improvements, housing, and other key issues associated with community development as a whole.

Programs include:

• Building Collaborative Communities - Governor Bob McDonnell has announced the Building Collaborative Communities program, a new effort designed to assist regions in creating and sustaining new economic opportunities across Virginia. The program will promote regional economic collaborations in economically distressed areas that stimulate job-creation, economic development, and build community capacity and leadership.
• The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) provides funding to eligible units of local government (non-entitlement communities only) for projects that address critical community needs including housing, infrastructure, and economic development.
• The Industrial Revitalization Fund is a new effort, announced by Governor McDonnell, to help rehabilitate derelict commercial and industrial structures. Local governments (towns, counties or cities) and regional or local economic or industrial development authorities can apply for the funding, which is intended to spark the rehabilitation of publicly held properties—or for loans from local governments to private property owners—primarily in distressed areas.
• The Virginia Enterprise Initiative supports small business development by assisting entrepreneurs in starting new businesses and helping disadvantaged individuals gain business skills and access to credit.
• The Virginia Enterprise Zone program encourages new business activity and expansion by providing state and local tax relief and grants, local regulatory flexibility, and local infrastructure development in selected economically depressed areas.
• The Virginia Individual Development Account program is designed to encourage savings in the form of cash matching funds. An eligible participant saves into a designated account at a financial institution for a specific purpose, such as homeownership, education, or business start-up and also receives financial training.
• The Virginia Main Street program supports downtown revitalization efforts through a comprehensive, incremental approach to revitalization built around a community’s unique heritage and attributes. Using local resources and initiatives, Main Street helps communities develop their own strategies to stimulate long term economic growth and pride in the traditional community center -- downtown.
• The Virginia’s Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) fosters economic development and improving the quality of life for Appalachian citizens, by providing assistance in the long-term development of a chronically depressed region which encompasses 25 counties and eight independent cities in Virginia
• The new Neighborhood Stabilization Program will provide emergency assistance to state and local governments to acquire and redevelop foreclosed properties that might otherwise become sources of abandonment and blight within their communities. Funds will be used to purchase foreclosed or abandoned homes and to rehabilitate, resell, or redevelop these homes in order to stabilize neighborhoods and stem the decline of house values of neighboring homes.
• DHCD utilizes Virginia Community Development Block Grant funding to provide support for the planning, and in some cases, implementation of telecommunications projects.  Telecommunications availability is considered critical in creating sustainable and competitive communities.