Infrastructure and housing
Developing infrastructure, business sites and spaces, and housing in Floyd County is a high priority. Thanks to Citizens Telephone Cooperative, in 2024 the County fiber with Gig internet service down all 600+ miles of roads in the County, as well as extended down many private roads and shared driveways. We are one of the first counties in Virginia to achieve this thanks to foresight by the Cooperative and the support of funding federal, state and local funding partners.
Public water and sewer services are currently only available in the Town of Floyd and immediate vicinity. We are actively working to expand that system to support business sites as well as areas for workforce housing developments. Housing is at a crises point in the County with prices far outpacing local wages. A Floyd Housing Group meets monthly to work to advance housing rehab and preservation as well as the addition of new units. More details on all below.
WHY housing planning
Floyd County has limited, and older existing housing stock scattered along every road. Affluent people have been moving to Floyd, driving housing and land prices far beyond the reach of local wages. There is no zoning in this live-and-let-live community. Over the generations, many people built their home with their own hands. Single family detached units comprise 96+% of housing units in the County, with few multi-family rental units. With local wages among the lowest in the state, 19% of households live in manufactured housing.
In 2017 a grassroots organization formed, the Floyd Initiative for Safe Housing (FISH), seeking to educate the community about housing needs, to spur production of housing, and to help many income-limited residents with home repairs.
FISH partnered with Habitat for Humanity, the County and NRV HOME to work toward adding affordable housing units (7 townhouses were recently completed). FISH volunteers, including local churches and employers, are doing 2-day/$3,000 repairs to 10-15 houses each year including many manufactured homes. But the housing rehab need is so much greater. As outlined below we now have a Community Development Block Grant to do major rehab for 15 homes!
Current projects:
Habitat Townhouses-7 townhouses were recently completed (pictured above)
County/Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Rehab project-$1,080,000 CDBG Grant; Match $207,900 (County waiving building permit) Total project $1,287,900 to rehab 15 houses
NRV Housing Trust Fund (slides from 3/26/24 Board meeting)
Planning Studies and Need Assessments:
Hill Studio Housing Assessment/plan and Market Study, 2021
CDBG- Applied for 2023 Planning Grant $50,000 with no cash match to help us prepare for another housing rehab construction application.
Infrastructure Projects:
Floyd Regional Commerce Center Phase 2
This 51-acre greenfield site can be tailored to your business’s needs. We are developing a 900 linear ft. road and bike-pedestrian lane into the property, as well as extending fiber, public water, and sewer into the center of the site.
Proposed Utilities Extension to support new affordable workforce housing
Virginia Telecom Initiative (VATI) 2022
Virginia Telecom Initiative (VATI) 2023
This 51-acre greenfield site can be tailored to your business’s needs. We are developing a 900 linear ft. road and bike-pedestrian lane into the property, as well as extending fiber, public water, and sewer into the center of the site.
WHY housing planning
+73%
Greatest changes in median sales price 2019-2022
Floyd County
$155,000->$267,450
$37,743
Floyd County average salary
7.1x
median sales price is 7.1 times the average salary.
in General, a home's purchase price should be no more than 3-5 times a purchaser's annual salary
“There are folks known to all of us right now with dire housing needs, and we cannot get to them fast enough.”
~ Jennifer Wilsie, Director of Housing, New River Valley Regional Commission
Featured Resources
Floyd County Economic Development Brochure
If your business is expanding and
you are looking for a small-town
environment where skilled talent is
easy to find, we want you to take a
good look at Floyd, Virginia.
Sites and Spaces
Check out what’s available for your business to start, grow, or relocate to Floyd.
Collaboration &
Career Development Center
The CCDC will work closely with businesses and local colleges and provide labs and innovative flex space for project-based career and technical learning for high schoolers and adults in welding, drawing and design, robotics, computer science, building trades, business and information technology, culinary arts, fine arts, health/medicine, agriculture, automotive, and more.
During the global health crisis, we were especially reminded of the benefits of small-town life. Local farmers make us less reliant on outside food sources. Spread-out housing and plenty of green space make social distancing easier and more bearable. And people in our tight-knit little community take care of each other—they’ll go the extra mile, metaphorically and literally, to make sure that everybody has what they need in this difficult time.
Learn More about infrasctructure planning
Contact us to schedule a call
Lydeana Martin
Director of Economic Development
Floyd County, Virginia
lmartin@floydcova.gov
540-745-9300