Danville lacks housing options for workforce

Danville is having a “Field of Dreams” dilemma.

The famous movie quote, “If you build it, they will come,” rings all too true in the former mill town, which is attracting companies to its industrial parks and old
Dan River Mills properties, along with a $650 million casino. It’s good news on paper, but where will “they” live?

“If they come, how many will be here?” Kenneth Danter asked. The president of national real estate market research firm The Danter Co., Danter presented a report on Danville’s housing market last August at the first Southern Virginia Regional Housing Summit.

Much of the activity is spurred by the forthcoming $650 million Caesars casino expected to open in 2024, as well as a temporary casino set to open by midyear. Caesars Entertainment Inc. expects to create 900 construction jobs and 1,300 casino jobs.

Other companies coming to town are expected to add 2,300 jobs in 2023. Danville doesn’t have enough housing to meet current demand, much less for incoming workers at the casino and six to eight other businesses. “We’ve not had a lot of construction; in some years, we’ve had zero construction,” Danter said.

Currently, there is a need for 606 houses and 760 apartments, and with more than 3,000 new jobs, the city will need 138 single-family houses and 921 apartments, he added.

The city has already identified properties for residential construction or rehabilitation and showed design concepts. These include Danville Mall, which has lost three of its five anchors and could be renovated as a mixed-use property, and the 60-acre Monument-Berryman Redevelopment Area, city-controlled land where more housing could be built.

Andrew Clark, vice president of government affairs for the Home Builders Association of Virginia, says the summit caught residential builders’ and developers’ attention, and between 10 to 15 said they’re interested in exploring potential projects in Danville.

Also, the city is receiving proposals for the Monument-Berry properties, says City Manager Ken Larking. The deadline is Feb. 17, and a selection will be made March 31.

The Danville Redevelopment and Housing Authority is also seeing an influx of developers interested in partnering on affordable housing for those making 30% to 80% of the city’s median income of $37,147.

“For the most part, that’s your workforce,” says Larissa Deedrich, its CEO and executive director.