In February, Governor McAuliffe announced award winners for DHCD’s Industrial Revitalization Fund for fiscal year 2016. Of those, three were Virginia Main Street Communities: the towns of Bedford and Warrenton and the city of Lynchburg. The IRF program can help rehabilitate derelict structures into economically viable uses again. The Center for Community Progress also posted an article about the “cost of blight” to a community. In that article, they look at some of Atlanta’s problem properties and what it cost the city in terms of additional police, fire and code enforcement, as well as lost property values.  It is critically important to any community to try and revitalize these properties.

If your community has a blighted structure and plans for its redevelopment, DHCD is once again opening   the IRF program for FY 2017. For more information on the program and to get details on upcoming how-to-apply workshops, visit www.dhcd.virginia.gov/irf . The application deadline is May 19, 2016.

If you have a specific project you would like to discuss, contact Jeff Sadler at (804) 371-7069 or jeff.sadler@dhcd.virginia.gov