Chesterfield County Rental Market Analysis

About

Chesterfield County community revitalization staff seek additional information about current rental market dynamics, particularly along the county’s major commercial corridors. This report compiles and analyzes data on subsidized, market-affordable, and newly-built rental units to help strategically guide the county’s future community development investments using CDBG and other grant funds.

Report outline

This report is divided into four parts:

PART 1-A: LITERATURE REVIEW

This part summarizes recent and current public planning documents that guide Chesterfield’s housing strategies, provides distinctions between the different methods for measuring housing affordability, explores the definition of “naturally-occurring affordable housing” (NOAH), and assesses current research regarding the concentration of low-cost housing and differences in length-of-stay between homeowners and renters.

PART 1-B: DEMOGRAPHIC AND AFFORDABILITY ANALYSIS

This part provides insight into household incomes, housing cost burden, and housing affordability across Chesterfield County. Where possible, data is disaggregated by tenure, household type, age, and race/ethnicity. Data sources are identified and explained in the first chapter of this part, with special attention paid to reliability for datasets based on survey samples. The final chapter of this part is an affordability analysis for the Route 1 corridor within the county.

PART 2-A: COUNTYWIDE MARKET ANALYSIS

This section summarizes the existing stock of rental units within the county and provides an analysis of recent price and production trends in the rental market. The second chapter conducts a spatial analysis of recent multifamily, market affordable, and affordable rental housing in the county. The third chapter is a market comparison between recent multifamily (built in the last five years or slated for future construction) development and existing rental supply in the county. The final chapter summarizes in-depth interviews with nonprofit and for-profit multifamily developers in the county.

PART 2-B: CORRIDOR CASE STUDIES

This section provides a market and spatial analysis of multifamily developments along two major corridors in the county: the Route One Corridor from the city-county line to Route 10 and the Eastern Hull Street Corridor from the city-county border to Genito Road.