Fifteen Towns Build Opportunities on Main Street in Southern Virginia

Pictured above: At a walking tour in Halifax, residents weigh in on the town’s downtown redevelopment strategy.

October 16, 2026

 

Expanding affordable housing options and reestablishing commercial life are critical to bringing economic growth back to Virginia’s rural downtowns. Across Southern Virginia, 15 towns located in nine counties are breathing new life into their downtowns via the Building Opportunities on Main Street (BOOMS) Pilot Project, an effort to take inventory of underutilized buildings and lots and showcase what is possible in historic Main Street districts. Virginia Housing is a proud partner in the effort.

Amelia Court House, Bedford, Charlotte Court House, Clarksville, Crewe, Cumberland Court House, Farmville, Halifax, Kenbridge, Keysville, Lawrenceville, South Boston, Altavista, Blackstone and Brookneal all participated in the BOOMS Pilot Project. These communities share many of the same challenges common to rural downtowns, including aging buildings, limited resources and a declining economic base that makes it difficult to attract investment or expand housing options.

Across the nine counties, the population is about 268,000, and nearly 10% of residents spend more than 30% of their income on housing, and both average incomes and home values are far lower than the Virginia average. Despite these conditions, the towns participating in the BOOMS Pilot Project also possess considerable resources, such as historic architecture, walkable street grids and proximity to green space.

 

Equipping Localities for Investment

For each town, the BOOMS Pilot Project resulted in a report that includes broad redevelopment strategies and preliminary concepts for a handful of specific properties, showing possible uses, such as housing, commercial space and outlining potential funding sources to bring those ideas to life. The report also includes market data such as consumer spending patterns and demand for housing and commercial activity.

To compile their reports, each town used Main Street America’s BOOMS Tracker to take stock of buildings and lots in its downtown district, detailing each property’s characteristics, conditions and current uses. They also held walking tours and stakeholder meetings to collect insights from local leaders and residents. By compiling an analysis of current conditions and visions for what is possible, each of the BOOMS Pilot Project’s participating towns has completed substantial legwork in offsetting the uncertainty around market demand and financial risk that often poses a challenge to redevelopment efforts.

“One of the biggest benefits is the data we’ve collected on opportunities,” said Jamie Gillespie, the Director of Planning and Community Development for Altavista. “The BOOMS report gave us insight on where we’re missing opportunities for small business, restaurants and furniture stores, for example. Now, when we’re talking to potential businesses, we can give them facts on what additional money there is to be captured. With the property inventory, we can speak to owners and show them data on businesses that would be willing to rent their buildings.”

Gillespie went on to detail how the information gathered in Altavista’s BOOMS support will be used to inform final decisions about what types of tenants the town will work to attract to fill a former downtown department store and theater building, including what type of housing should go on upper stories.

In Halifax, Town Manager Carl Espy echoed Gillespie, noting that tangible projects are moving forward thanks to his town’s BOOMS report.

“The BOOMS report has solidified the potential of several building redevelopments in downtown Halifax, including mixed-use housing and commercial opportunities,” said Espy. “There are at least four concept plans for site and building renovations which have now gained traction for more definitive planning and design work. As the BOOMS report is circulated, town planning staff expect opportunities like these to expand five-fold.”

Historic Downtown Housing

Housing is an essential part of any downtown revitalization effort as nearby homes create a built in customer base for local businesses and meet workforce needs in the region. Downtown housing also attracts residents who want to live in walkable communities or whose first choice is not single-family detached housing. For many of the participating towns, the BOOMS Pilot Project highlighted opportunities to convert unused buildings or vacant lots into apartments, townhomes, condos or upper story residential units.

“We don’t currently have a lot of housing in downtown,” said Gillespie, “and, about 92% of our workforce commutes in every day. We’ve got people coming to us to work, but they’re then taking their paychecks back home with them. Our BOOMS study highlighted how much underutilized upper-story space we have and how we can work with people that own that space to look at how housing might fit.”

Partnering to Support Virginia’s Main Streets

The Commonwealth Regional Commission (CRC), a Southern Virginia planning district commission that has recently worked with Virginia Housing on a variety of workforce development initiatives, managed funding and coordination for the BOOMS Pilot Project. Virginia Housing joined the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission and the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development to support the program by providing a $40,000 Community Impact Planning Grant to support the work, and staff joined numerous walking tours and community meetings while staying in close contact with town leaders and guiding them toward Virginia Housing resources designed to support redevelopment initiatives.

Beyond financial support, the statewide and regional organizations behind the BOOMS project also worked to connect participating towns with resources they may not have had the capacity to access on their own, such as brownfield assessments to check for lead paint and asbestos at a promising development site and specialized financing options available through Community Development Financing Institutions (CDFIs).

“For a town our size with limited planning resources, having the CRC develop this opportunity with Virginia Housing, the Tobacco Commission and Virginia Main Street (DHCD) meant that Halifax could tap into expertise we could not have organized on our own,” said Espy. “These agencies were a huge boost to our ongoing revitalization, and the work they’ve supported will accelerate new businesses and housing in our downtown historic district that would have otherwise been missed.”

With clear starting points that investors, developers and the localities themselves can build on, the BOOMS Pilot Program’s 15 participating towns are laying foundations for long-term revitalization that will inform decisions for years to come. Upticks in quality, affordable housing, thriving local businesses and healthy downtowns are on the horizon.

“The BOOMS Pilot Project was a great opportunity for Virginia Housing to support small, rural downtowns that are looking to collaborate and form creative partnerships to address vacant and blighted buildings,” said Virginia Housing Senior Strategic Housing Officer Chris McNamara. “The reports are a major step in bringing historic downtowns back to life with new residential and commercial opportunities.”