VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — In the city of Virginia Beach, there are over 4,000 units of designated affordable housing but the need for more housing continues to grow which is why the city is looking to see if churches and nonprofits may be interested in stepping in.
"It's one of the city's top priorities," Sharon Shoff, with the Virginia Beach Department of Housing & Neighborhood Preservation, said.
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Shoff said nearly half of all renters living in Virginia Beach are cost-burdened, meaning they pay 30 percent of their income on their total housing costs.
"We've always had a need for this [affordable housing] but the need for it increased over the last several years, especially right after the pandemic," Shoff said. "The rents in Virginia Beach and other localities nationwide started climbing."
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High land costs can make affordable housing hard to build.
That's why the city is reaching out and seeing if churches or nonprofits would be interested in turning some of their land into affordable housing.
"The only way to make affordable housing feasible is to try and lower those costs and land is one of the biggest development costs so being able to provide that at low or no costs goes a long way to providing affordable housing," Shoff said.
The idea came after a meeting between the city and the Interfaith Alliance at the Beach, an organization made up of members of the faith community who are looking to help fill the gap.
"This is an opportunity again for faith communities to step up as they always have to be able to partner with a local nonprofit for a project that would be able to support a marginalized community," Courtney Pierce, with the Interfaith Alliance at the Beach, said.
A form has been made online that organizations can fill out until Aug. 14.
The idea is just to make a list of groups who may be interested in creating affordable housing.
Later, the city will evaluate the property to see if a build could happen.
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The city would not own the land but would just help facilitate the organization for construction.
Shoff said so far one church has expressed interest in possibly helping out.
"We're a resource to help them get started but like I said the first step is just trying to see who is interested," Shoff said.
Shoff said the city is also looking at its land to see what can be utilized for affordable housing construction.
