Supply and demand Richmond Free Press

City’s ‘housing crisis’ calls for 23,000 affordable living spaces

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Seeking to put fresh emphasis on an issue that has been on the agenda for at least a decade, City Council on Monday followed through and joined Mayor Levar M. Stoney in “declaring a housing crisis in the city of Richmond.”

The approved resolution, among other things, embraces the mayor’s strategies for addressing the desperate housing situation in which income-challenged residents are finding themselves as rents surge and housing prices continue to soar – such as rewriting zoning laws to remove barriers to income-restricted developments, creating a commission to offer ideas, and beefing up a city loan pool to help finance more developments.

The resolution did not mention that the city had essentially scrapped a 2020 plan to use new revenue from expiring property tax exemptions as a stream of income to finance additional af-

What dreams come true City’s ownership of Mayo Island appears within reach

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

City Hall is jumping to buy a major James River island that the city has dreamed of owning for 40 years to expand parkland.

On Wednesday, City Council introduced two pieces of legislation to move forward on the purchase of the 14.5-acre Mayo Island, which fronts the 500 block of South 14th Street on the Mayo Bridge.

One ordinance to authorize the administration to buy is being sent to the Planning Commission for review on Monday, April 17, with an expectation of council voting its approval at the next meeting on Monday, April 24.

The second ordinance would allow the city to accept a $7.5 million grant from the Virginia