Danville Redevelopment & Housing Authority

DANVILLE, Virginia- The Danville Redevelopment and Housing Authority (DRHA) is pleased to announce that they have been awarded $160K by the West Piedmont Planning District Committee (WPPDC) to renovate two properties in the City of Danville that are a part of DRHA’s housing inventory. Larissa Deedrich, Executive Director and CEO of the DRHA, felt it was a major accomplishment in winning the award, as it gives DRHA the opportunity to help in the revitalization of older neighborhoods.

Each of the houses will have $80K from the award invested into their respective renovations. The home located on Temple Avenue will be available and affordably priced to own once it has gone through the rehabilitation stage. The other property at Wood Street will undergo rehabilitation and be available as an affordable rental. Both houses are slated to be completed within 120 days after contracts are signed by the builders to begin work. Contracts are expected to be signed this week.

Caleb Milam, DRHA’s Procurement Administrator and project lead on the Temple Avenue house, states, “I’m excited to be on a project that will allow homeownership, especially since there is a lack of affordable housing available in the area.”

This lack is why the WPPDC in partnership with Virginia Housing, formed the WPPDC Housing Development Program. The goal of the program is to assess and remedy the problem of insufficient affordable housing. Through this grant funding opportunity, localities and their housing partners can request funds to produce affordable housing that is either newly built or rehabilitated / repaired.  This is quite the good news for those would be renters or homeowners who might not have otherwise been able to find reasonable priced housing.