The Monitor - Summer 2022
Southeast Community Bus Tour
On July 28th, after many months of planning and collaborating, VPAR and the City of Newport News kicked off its Southeast Community REALTOR® Day tour! Highlighting this unique and historically rich region of the City, nearly 60 VPAR members and almost 20 City officials participated in a bus tour that focused on the growing investments of public and private dollars in economic development, housing, parks and recreation, streetscapes, educational facilities and cultural facilities in downtown Newport News.
From the Downing Gross Community Center to the Seafood Industrial Park, the Choice Neighborhood Initiative (that has secured $30 MILLION from HUD!), the Southeast Community Resource Area, Brooks Crossing Innovation & Opportunity Center, Two Five & J shared office space, Lift and Rise housing developments, entertainment and restaurant venues, and a host of other significant redevelopment areas in the Southeast region, REALTORS® were able to gather, network, share the vision and energy, and learn so many details that are reinvigorating downtown Newport News. VPAR plans to partner with the City again to bring more members into the area to showcase the entrepreneurial spirit that is forever changing this community.
REALTOR® Town Hall with Rep. Elaine Luria
On Monday, July 25th, VPAR, along with the Hampton Roads REALTORS® Association, co-hosted a REALTOR® Town Hall with Rep. Elaine Luria (2nd District) to discuss a variety of real estate - and housing - related issues. Led by leadership from both Associations, including public policy leadership, these important topics were highlighted:
Housing Inventory/Housing Economy
Housing Affordability
Neighborhood Revitalization
Recurrent Flooding and the impacts of flooding
Fair Housing
DOD Budget/Hampton Roads Impacts
With a focus on the NAR 2022 Legislative Agenda, specific asks were made of the Congresswoman to consider being a co-sponsor of H.R. 5041, the GREATER Revitalization of Shopping Centers Act, sponsored by Representatives Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-GA), Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), and Cynthia Axne (D-IA), which creates a grant within the Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program to incentivize public and private investment in abandoned and underutilized shopping malls.
Rep. Luria also was asked to sign on as a co-sponsor of H.R. 4759, sponsored by Representatives Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), Dan Kildee (DMI), and John B. Larson (D-CT); this is the Revitalizing Downtowns Act, which creates a Qualified Office Conversion Tax Credit to convert unused office buildings into residential, commercial, and mixed-use properties.
We also gave the Rep. Luria the opportunity to speak to flood protection measures for Coastal Virginia in both Hampton Roads and on the Eastern Shore that were advanced on a bipartisan vote by the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure as part of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2022.
Presentation to Isle of Wight County - VPAR Housing Stock Assessment & Future Needs Report
On July 27th, the CEO and the CAO, along with VPAR researcher Dr. Tom Hall with Christopher Newport University, met with the leadership team in Isle of Wight County to deliver housing data details in the form of a housing report. County Administrator Randy Keaton; Assistant County Administrator Don Robertson; Community Development Director Amy Ring; Economic Development Director Chris Morello; Jeryl Phillips, Assistant Director Planning & Zoning; and Nicole Talton, Economic Development Coordinator all were presented extensive details into current housing stock, demographics of income brackets and County population, regional comparative markets, commuter patterns and the delta of housing inventory that the County should consider in its future planning. Additional data is going to be gathered by Dr. Hall over the coming weeks to also place a focus on the comparable markets in Suffolk, from which Isle of Wight County draws many residents.
The County requested the information from VPAR so that the data can be used when the County updates its Comprehensive Plan and other housing-related ordinances, noting that it had been nearly 15 years since this kind of housing data had been generated.
Using grant funding from NAR’s Housing Opportunity Program, VPAR has been able to provide this kind of data for most of the municipalities on the Peninsula over the past several years. A regional housing study will be conducted in the near future.
Congratulations to the City of Hampton!
As a partner with the City that works on many flood-related issues in the City, VPAR extends its congratulations to Hampton for being named the Resilient Virginia Community of the Year by the Virginia Chapter of the American Planning Association for its "outstanding example for how to undertake resiliency planning," according to the announcement.
“As localities across the country begin the process of quantifying, analyzing, and evaluating the impacts of climate change, they would be well advised to look to the work Hampton has done through its Resilient Hampton initiative,” said Brian Swets, member of the awards program committee. The Newmarket Creek Pilot Project Area Water Plan was used as an example of compiling objective data, and developing a plan that was refined with a large amount of public input, including multiple meetings with VPAR’s Public Policy Committee.
"Just as important as having quality plans is funding to implement the recommendations found within," the press release noted. Hampton led the state as the first locality to issue Environmental Impact Bonds, which requires that projects meet projected outcomes, noting that "this level of accountability and dedication is truly inspirational and a model of project delivery for all local governments."
Newport News Short Term Rental Ordinance
On July 6th, the VPAR Public Policy Committee (PPC) convened, along with special guests Martin Johnson and Erin Barton from the Virginia REALTORS® Public Policy team, for a regularly scheduled committee meeting. As part of the agenda, the PPC reviewed the details of the City’s recently approved Short Term Rental (STR) ordinance and recommended to the VPAR Board of Directors a series of proposed amendments that will be presented to the City as part of the ongoing discussion and implementation of this local Code section. This will be an ongoing process as this still-new language evolves to balance, elevate and protect business owners, private property owners and neighborhoods.
