Housing Needs Assessment Prepares Princeton for Future Growth

Three-phase study aims to identify sites for future housing development

While overall West Virginia’s population is shrinking, pockets of economic and community growth can be found throughout the state.

Such is the case in Princeton, not far from the Virginia border in Mercer County. Anticipated job creation stemming from the growth of the healthcare sector in that area has led city and county officials to begin laying the groundwork for future development. Included in those plans is housing.

“The city recently sold a prime building downtown to Southern Highlands which will create 100 new mental health provider and administrative jobs downtown. That’s 100 more folks that need a place to live,” said Samuel Lusk, Economic Development Director for the Princeton Economic Development Authority. “Another factor is the growth we anticipate with the hospital, which is leasing additional property from the city to create a medical office building and a comprehensive cancer center. That’s several hundred jobs, not just nurses and personnel but also doctors.”

To better understand the need for housing and how the city can facilitate this growth — the Princeton EDA applied for and received $25,000 in predevelopment funding from the West Virginia Housing Development Fund’s Affordable Housing Fund Program to complete a comprehensive housing needs assessment and market analysis. Princeton EDA is partnering with the Virginia Tech Center for Housing Research to complete the study, which began in January, 2025. The study will take a three-pronged approach, Lusk explained.

“We want to look at the properties the city owns and study developable sites throughout the city and review zoning ordinances to see if anything needs to be changed to make the city more palatable for investment,” he said. “What codes and zoning do we need to change? Do we have an existing property that will be prime for common sense housing? Where are the developable sites? What areas do we need to strategically target for housing growth? Those are all things we hope to learn from this study.”

The West Virginia Housing Development Fund was established in 1968 to increase the supply of residential housing for those with low- and moderate-incomes, and to provide financing to public and private housing developers. The AHF Program helps drive that mission by providing financial assistance to local governments, local housing authorities, and eligible nonprofit organizations that provide assistance to low- and moderate-income residents of the State.

“This study is an example of how the Fund’s AHF Program can assist government entities and nonprofit agencies in creating affordable housing opportunities for their service areas,” explained Darlene King, the Fund’s Senior Multifamily Programs Administrator. “The AHF Program’s predevelopment funds are a perfect use for such market studies and is an essential first step in the development of affordable housing.”

The preliminary phase of the study includes gathering input and feedback from the community. Lusk said the Virginia Tech researchers met with bankers, city government leaders, employers, and developers to get a sense of what barriers stand in the way of housing development. Thanks to the money from the AHF Program, the research is fully funded.

“We’re very grateful to the West Virginia Housing Development Fund,” Lusk said. “I don’t know of any other opportunities that were this available to fund a study like this. We think it will be invaluable to our community because we’ll have this additional insight to housing in our area.”