City of Richmond and Chesterfield County Awarded $400,000

~ Planning grant funded to revitalize 4.7 miles of Hull Street Road~

The city of Richmond and Chesterfield County were awarded a $400,000 grant as part of an unprecedented collaboration between two federal agencies. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) jointly awarded the funds to help stimulate a new generation of sustainable and livable communities, connect housing, employment and economic development with transportation and other infrastructure improvements.

The HUD-DOT funding will support 62 local and regional partnerships seeking to create a more holistic and integrated approach to connecting affordable housing, job opportunities and transportation corridors. The Richmond/Chesterfield collaboration is the only partnership in Virginia to be in the group of 62. The application being funded, which was filed in August, is to develop an inter-jurisdictional comprehensive plan to revitalize 4.7 miles of Hull Street Road from just west of Belt Boulevard in Richmond to Walmsley Boulevard in Chesterfield, a commercial and residential corridor.

"This inter-jurisdictional approach toward corridor revitalization reflects the type of comprehensive economic development strategy that is necessary to move communities forward and to address issues surrounding poverty reduction, jobs, and opportunity," said Mayor Dwight C. Jones. "HUD and DOT get that we've got to connect all the dots in order to make communities more sustainable and livable."

The plan will incorporate an analysis of the corridor including zoning/land-use, traffic circulation/connectivity, streetscape, housing, infrastructure, demographics, public open space and community services ending in sector analysis, a community outreach strategy, a sustainability approach incorporating green building principles, green infrastructure and methods of mitigating environmental conditions, a market analysis, a housing strategy, a list of proposed incentives for businesses, property owners, and developers, and residences, an open space and recreation plan, adaptive reuse of vacant property and the identification of funding sources.

"Revitalization of the Hull Street Road corridor is key to the future health of adjacent neighborhoods,” said Chairman Dan Gecker of the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors. “By all of us working together, we can secure a healthy and vital future for area residents and businesses."

For more information, contact Juanita Buster, City of Richmond Planner III at (804) 646-6361, and Latisha Jenkins, Chesterfield County Revitalization coordinator at (804) 748-1065.

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