Blacksburg partnering with Habitat for Humanity to build 11 townhomes

BLACKSBURG, Va. (WDBJ) - The Town of Blacksburg set aside a portion of its American Rescue Plan Act funds to help with the need for affordable housing in the community.

Through a partnership between the town and Habitat for Humanity of the NRV, 11 townhomes will be built with $1 million of ARPA funds.

“Each unit that we can get in our community is a unit that we didn’t have, so drop by drop, we’re making an impact,” Blacksburg’s Assistant to the Town Manager Matt Hanratty said.

The 11 units Habitat builds will be designed as affordable housing.

“Our goal is to provide housing for those that are within the 30 to 80% median income for the area, which changes on a year-to-year basis,” Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity of the NRV Jim Drader said.

That number is around $90,000. These townhomes will be similar to the most recent habitat build in Blacksburg on Church St.

“Our hope is to begin construction at the end of ‘24, first part of ‘25 at the latest, and we have to be complete by the middle of ‘26, which all sounds really far in the future but in the development world that’s close,” Drader said.

The homes will be on Airport Road next to the Blacksburg Fire Department.

“This is a great location for affordable housing projects,” Hanratty said. “It’s in the middle of an existing neighborhood right near our elementary school, right near the grocery store close to our downtown, so it really checks all the boxes that we’re looking for in a project.”

Town council will vote on the rezoning request October 10.

For more information on the project click here.

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