Nonprofit Exodus Family Institute Hopes to Build Workforce Housing in King George
Group is asking county to apply for a planning grant from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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The King George Board of Supervisors at its next meeting will consider a request from a local organization that hopes to construct “workforce housing” in the county.
Exodus Family Institute would like to build 21 homes that will be affordable at income levels that are typical of “essential workers” like teachers, first responders, and healthcare workers, said executive director Mary Parnell at the February 5 Board of Supervisors meeting.
Exodus owns a 16-acre parcel, zoned single-family suburban, located off Colby’s Lane, which it bought from the troubled nonprofit housing developer Project Faith in March of last year, according to King George’s geographic information system.
Parnell told supervisors this week that there is “a real need for workforce housing in this area,” pointing out the Fredericksburg Area Association of Realtors’ 2024 year-end housing report, which shows that the median home price in King George is $465,000.
“The income level of these essential workers we are serving—teachers, healthcare workers, first responders—those salaries do not meet the level to afford a $465,000 home,” Parnell said. “Income typically needs to be $100,000+ [per year] to afford that.”
To help start the project, Exodus is asking the Board of Supervisors to apply for a planning grant of up to $100,000 from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, which administers the federally funded Community Development Block Grant program.
The CDBG program provides funding to local governments to plan and implement projects that meet critical community needs, said Chip Boyles, executive director of the George Washington Regional Commission, who attended the supervisors’ meeting to explain the process of applying for these grants.
Local government units are the only eligible recipients of community development block grants, but governments can work with local planning commissions and nonprofits to carry out project activities.
If the preliminary work funded by the planning grant finds that the project can be successful, Boyles said, the local government can then apply for a construction grant of up to $1 million.
“That would put in infrastructure—water and sewer, sidewalks,” Boyles said.
Boyles said GWRC would help the county apply for the grant and help administer it, if it were awarded. But he warned that the odds of King George receiving the grant are “not terribly great.”
“It’s based on low-income demographics, and our region does not get very many of these grants because our income levels and employment rates are high,” Boyles said. “The only thing is, I can guarantee that you won’t get the grant if you don’t apply.”
Parnell reiterated that she believes it is worth applying for the grant. She said workforce housing helps economic growth and will cut down on traffic congestion by preventing the need for commuting in and out of the county.
She said homeownership will build generational wealth for county residents and explained that there are several options to ensure that the houses stay affordable, such as deed restrictions that tie resale prices to the area median income rather than the market, and by separating the house from the land and creating a community land trust.
Supervisors generally indicated that they support Parnell’s goals but do have questions and concerns, among them being whether there is enough interest in workforce housing.
James Monroe district representative T.C. Collins had the most to say about the project, at times talking despite not being recognized by Chair William Davis.
“I don’t want to be in the housing business,” Collins said. “You have the land; you have the collateral—can’t you just go out and seek investors?”
Davis said the Exodus request will be placed on the agenda for the next board meeting for action.
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