Five Innovation Grant Winners Are Set to Take Housing to New Heights

Virginia Housing is proud to announce the 2024 recipients of its Innovation Grant Program:

• Accomack County and iUnit Communities
• project:HOMES, Module and Urban Hope
• Better Housing Coalition
• The Mount Rogers Planning District Commission and the Marion Economic Development Authority
• Community Lodgings


The Innovation Grant Program supports breakthroughs in both housing affordability and housing services for residents in Virginia, primarily with regard to serving low- and moderate-income households. The goal is to encourage partners to develop new technical and process-based solutions that, while uncommon now, could be easily replicated over the long term.




“We are thrilled to support these groundbreaking projects and the innovative approaches they bring to housing,” said Chris Thompson, Virginia Housing’s Director of Strategic Housing. “Each grantee is bringing unique solutions to the table with the potential to reshape how we address housing challenges across the Commonwealth.”




Within the overall program, there are three specific types of grants: Innovation Planning, Innovation Program and Innovation Construction.




The first, Innovation Planning Grants, is meant as a precursor to the other two, offering up to $50,000 for recipients to explore ideas for innovations that are not yet ready for execution. This grant is similar to other Virginia Housing grants in that its application is open, and it is awarded on a noncompetitive basis, meaning that all applicants who meet the eligibility thresholds will receive a grant offer.




The second grant type, Innovation Program Grants, offers up to $200,000 for organizations to incorporate new approaches in services and financing, from property management, maintenance and community engagement to funding models, financial products and investment strategies.




The third type, Innovation Construction Grants, offers up to $500,000 to supplement the costs of building methods that show potential to reduce construction time and costs; examples might include developing more affordable or sustainable materials, or pioneering construction techniques that save resources while maintaining or improving quality. This grant can also be used to make forward-thinking improvements to projects that Virginia Housing is already financing. Virginia Housing makes funding decisions based on the novelty of the innovation, how likely it is that the innovation could be replicated and the applicant’s approach to evaluating their efforts and sharing their findings.




Below, you’ll find overviews of the five Innovation Grant Program recipients and the projects the funding will go toward:


Accomack County and iUnit Communities – Innovation Construction

Accomack County received a grant to team with iUnit Communities to build two modular cottages in Parksley, Virginia. These cottages, which were recently approved by the U.S. Department of Energy, will be Net Zero-Ready, meaning they will be set up to draw energy from a renewable source such as solar power.




Beyond following the local comprehensive plan and zoning code’s calls to incorporate resource conservation into new developments, this project’s key feature is that the homes coming to Parksley will be modular. This means that in large part, the homes will be built in a factory and placed on a foundation before interior walls and utilities are completed. This method allows for construction times, less waste and for skilled construction workers to support housing all over the state rather than scatter out to single construction sites.




The homes in Parksley are expected to be complete by February 2025.




project:HOMES, Module and Urban Hope – Innovation Programs

project:HOMES and Urban Hope, two Richmond-based affordable housing nonprofits, will team with Module, a modular home builder, to build nine modular rental units in Richmond’s East End. Construction is anticipated to wrap up by October 2025, and Urban Hope is expected to begin leasing the units the following January.




This project will also include a report that lays out best practices for future property acquisition and affordable rental efforts that project:HOMES and Urban Hope partner on.




Better Housing Coalition – Innovation Services

Better Housing Coalition (BHC), a nonprofit developer, received a grant to support its ongoing effort to restructure its approach to property management. The key innovation with this effort is an increased focus on promoting staff from within and the development of a career pipeline for residents of BHC properties who are interested in pursuing jobs in maintenance.




This effort began in January 2024, and by the end of 2026 it is expected to have saved over $1 million in expenses while also increasing cash flow and making operations more efficient across the portfolio — all of which means more resources going into BHC’s efforts to provide affordable housing for residents.




Community Lodgings – Innovation Programs

Community Lodgings is an affordable housing provider in Alexandria’s Chirilagua-Arlandria neighborhood, an area where most residents make far less than the area median income. Community Lodgings will use its grant to launch Chirilagua-Arlandria Resident Equity Solutions (CARES), a multifaceted movement to ensure that people who have experience living in housing insecurity in Alexandria are involved in decisions related to the matter. Establishing CARES will include hiring a community ambassador who has lived in affordable housing in Chirilagua-Arlandria and educating residents so that they can more directly influence policy, planning and development in their communities.




Mount Rogers Planning District Commission and Marion Economic Development Authority – Innovation Programs

The Mount Rogers Planning District Commission and the Marion Economic Development Authority (EDA) will use their grant to expand the EDA’s Blighted, Abandoned, Underutilized and Derelict Properties (BAUD) program. Also known as “Renew Marion,” the BAUD program is an effort to purchase and demolish blighted properties and build affordable modular homes in their place.




Ten modular homes have currently been delivered under the BAUD program, and 20 more are expected in the near future, all to be sold to new homebuyers and with priority going to first-time homebuyers, veterans and seniors.