A look at the region’s coming affordable housing boom

Mike Platania at Richmond BizSense has a great long look into the affordable housing boom underway in the region (mostly in South Richmond):

Local and out-of-town players alike have filed plans for at least 2,800 units for lower-income renters in recent months. That’s after years of market-rate apartment developments being far and away the most common type of new multifamily construction in the city.

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Last year the City of Richmond received $14 million in federal funding to help address its housing crisis, and, most critically, it rolled out a new grant program that allows developers to save on real estate taxes.

The city’s new Affordable Housing Performance Grant program is a tool that allows developers to pay taxes for up to 30 years only on the assessed value of the land on which they build a new affordable housing development. The amount they pay on the assessed value of the residential improvements is rebated to them via a grant administered by the city’s Economic Development Authority.

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