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Virginia Center for Housing Research (VCHR)

Virginia Center for Housing Research

The Virginia Tech Center for Housing Research (VCHR), located in Blacksburg, is the official housing research center for the Commonwealth and is a college center in Virginia Tech's College of Engineering.

Up close view of a 3D printer printing a house.
Affordable Housing

VCHR supports localities and organizations through data-driven analysis to help improve affordability.

Housing Education

VCHR educates policymakers and the greater public of the Commonwealth through new research findings.

Building Technology

VCHR collaborates with industry leaders to model new technologies and their implications for the economy.

VCHR has a mission to serve as an interdisciplinary study, research, and information resource on housing for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Accordingly, VCHR provides housing-related research for localities and the Commonwealth, federal agencies, nonprofit organizations, and for-profit businesses.

VCHR's recent focus is on innovative technology that transforms the production cycle and high-performance housing in addition to data-driven research that impacts housing affordability. VCHR has published numerous reports on topics such as housing markets and affordability; preservation of federally-assisted, low-income housing; regulatory impacts on affordable housing; public-private housing partnerships; and diffusion of innovative housing technologies in residential construction.

Leadership

The Center's director is Dr. Andrew P. McCoy, Beliveau Professor of Building Construction and Associate Director of the Myers Lawson School of Construction at Virginia Tech. Melisa (Mel) Jones is co-director and oversees VCHR operations. Dr. Philip Agee is assistant director. Dr. Agee is an assistant professor in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech.

  • Bio Item
    Staff headshot of Andrew McCoy
    Andrew McCoy , bio

    Associate Director for Research and Innovation, Myers-Lawson School of Construction; Director, Virginia Center for Housing Research; Beliveau Professor, Building Construction

  • Bio Item
    Staff headshot of Mel Jones
    Mel Jones , bio

    Associate Director, Virginia Center for Housing Research

  • Bio Item
    Staff headshot of Philip Agee
    Philip Agee , bio

    Assistant Professor, Building Construction; Assistant Director, Virginia Center for Housing Research

Address

430 Bishop-Favrao Hall
1345 Perry St, Blacksburg, VA 24061

Contact

Email: Mel.Jones@VT.edu
Phone: 540-231-3993

Housing Camp

Enhance your housing knowledge through our individualized professional development classes for you or your company.

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Projects

  • Article Item
    screenshot of the homepage of the Housing Virginia website
    The Housing Virginia Affordability Sourcebook , article

    The Virginia Center for Housing Research continues to provide quarterly updates for Housing Virginia’s Housing Affordability Sourcebook, an online tool for determining housing affordability. The Housing Affordability Sourcebook is available at www.housingvirginia.org. A variety of housing affordability measures, including a series of housing affordability indices based on median housing cost and median income, are available for the state, metropolitan statistical areas, and Virginia localities.

  • Article Item
    Screenshot of the Playbook landing page for the Housing Virginia website
    The Housing Virginia Playbook , article

    The Virginia Center for Housing Research developed and updates an online searchable tool of affordable housing policies and programs in Virginia. This thorough inventory documents the policies and programs in place for Virginia’s 134 counties and independent cities. Users may search by either the locality or by 19 broad policy categories. The project is supported by the nonprofit organization Housing Virginia.

  • Article Item
    wooden blocks being used to build houses
    Regional + Local Nrv Housing Study , article

    The Virginia Center for Housing Research was part of a diverse team of regional and local stakeholders to develop the Regional + Local NRV Housing Study. This study began in 2018 with the goal of addressing housing questions from localities across the New River Valley. The Regional Commission partnered with the Virginia Center for Housing Research at Virginia Tech, Housing Forward Virginia, and czb, LLC to provide housing market data collection, analysis training, and strategy development.

  • Article Item
    House Report banner graphic showing $47.8 Billion Economic Activity broken down
    The Housing Policy Advisory Council Report (2018) , article

    In October 2014, Governor McAuliffe issued Executive Order (EO) 32, “Advancing Virginia’s Housing Policy,” to “identify and implement actions to enable quality, affordable housing, which will strengthen families and communities and foster economic growth.” The Housing Policy Advisory Council (HPAC) was thus established under the leadership of the Secretary of Commerce and Trade to help guide the development and implementation of Virginia’s housing policy.

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Publications

  • Article Item
    Tenant Organizations In Public Housing Projects: A Report On Senate Resolution No. 347 , article

    Tenant management was initiated as a response to the virtual breakdown of housing authority management in Boston and St. Louis two decades ago. The first resident management corporation was created in 1971 from frustration with poor management and maintenance at the Bromley-Heath public housing development in Boston. In St. Louis, frustrated tenants organized the nation’s first public housing rent strike in 1969.

  • Article Item
    Urban Redevelopment, Displacement And The Future Of The American City , article

    This paper examines the record of urban redevelopment during the last half of the 20th century. The post World War II history of redevelopment is traced through five periods: slum clearance; clearance for public housing; national promotion of social change; redevelopment of central business districts; and, the federal retreat from cities.

  • Article Item
    Housing Conditions of Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers , article

    Migrant, seasonal workers are a critical labor force for planting and harvesting a variety of agricultural products in Virginia. Seasonal surges in demand for such labor are largely met by migrant workers who come from outside the United States in search of temporary employment. Within the agricultural economy, the farmer and the migrant worker have a symbiotic relationship that is structured by several important constraints.

  • Article Item
    Partner in Housing: Virginia's Nonprofit Housing Sector , article

    Nonprofit housing organizations primarily exist to address the housing needs of low-income Virginians, those whose housing needs are not sufficiently met by the forprofit sector or by government. NHOs are private corporations with a board of directors who volunteer their time and services, and most have paid staff. Nonprofit housing organizations are very similar to for-profit housing corporations in their size, productivity and commitment to the “bottom line.”

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News

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