He visited realtor.com to find that there were no homes available to buy that met his criteria. He searched for apartments and lofts to rent online, but found it difficult to contact anyone at rental offices.

“When I did, they quickly informed me that there were no apartments available,” the 39-year-old Axton native told the Danville Register & Bee. “In many cases I couldn’t even get on a list and was told to keep checking.”

Simmons wanted to buy a single-family home, “but the area lacks contemporary residential developments,” he said. Simmons has found a place in the booming River District for now.

“Ultimately I settled on a loft because it’s trendy, but I know in the long run it won’t meet my needs,” said Simmons, vice-principal at an elementary school in Danville.

Danville needs more than 1,000 additional housing units to meet the demand generated by nearly 4,000 jobs expected to arrive in the Dan River area over the next year, according to a recent housing demand study by The Danter Company.

Since 2018, economic development projects worth $1.1 billion promising about 4,000 jobs have been announced in Danville and Pittsylvania County.

The city’s housing supply is low due to a lack of new home construction in recent years, said Ken Danter, founder and president of the company that conducted housing analysis in the Danville area, during a presentation at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research on August 18.

These thousands of jobs will increase demand for housing, with 1,059 new units needed to meet it, including 921 apartments and 138 single-family homes.

Additionally, an additional 1,366 units are needed – 760 apartments and 606 single-family homes – to satisfy pent-up demand. Those numbers add up to 2,425 homes that need to be built to meet housing needs due to both job-driven and pent-up demand, Danter said during his presentation.

The study looked at population, income, home ownership, single-family and multi-family building permits, and other factors.

Over the past 10 years, Danville has built an average of just 10 single-family units per year, compared to an average of 89 for other cities, based on building permits, Danter said.

“On that basis alone, that’s 900 homes that haven’t been built in that market,” he said.

Hampton Wilkins, broker and president of Wilkins & Co. Realtors in Danville, hopes Danter’s presentation will highlight Danville’s housing needs so developers in other areas are aware of the area’s situation.

“Awareness is the main thing,” Wilkins told the Danville Register & Bee. “We let everyone know that Danville needs housing.

The challenge of the city’s housing market is not new. Danville last year saw homes in Schoolfield sell for several times more than they would have in 2020 following the Caesars Virginia casino project which is expected to be completed in 2024.

“We’ve seen an increase in house prices, we’ve seen an increase in apartment prices,” Wilkins said. “It’s just supply and demand.”

There is no easy solution to the shortage of available housing in Danville, Wilkins said.

“I wish there was a simple answer,” he said. “It’s going to take a collaborative effort to address our housing shortage.”

Danville isn’t the only locality facing such a problem, Wilkins said. The city’s economic success has a ripple effect in other parts of southern Virginia.

“Pittsylvania County, Halifax, Martinsville, South Boston, those areas will benefit from Danville’s growth, and properties in those areas are also going up in value,” he said.

As for the city’s tight housing supply, builders haven’t built homes because materials are so expensive and labor availability is low, Wilkins said. The costs are so high that they cannot justify the asking price or the rental needed to cover the debt, he said.

U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, praised the city’s market for its ability to bring in $1,100 in rent for a loft or apartment in the River District. Warner stopped in Danville on Wednesday on a three-day trip through Southside and southwest Virginia.

As for Simmons, he pays $1,200 for his new loft, including utilities and internet.

“I actually love my new loft, but I’ll be happy when new contemporary homes become available for purchase in the area,” Simmons said.

Simmons, who returned to the Danville area to be closer to his family and have more space, is happy to be back in town.

“We are on the verge of major economic improvements, and I like what has been [done] with the River District,” Simmons said. “I am delighted to be back in Danville and look forward to seeing how the region develops in the years to come.

Danville Councilman James Buckner, a realtor with Wilkins & Co., said developers, city council, city government and the city as a whole are working every day to recruit builders to the city and find land. to build houses.

Like Wilkins, Buckner had no concise explanation of what could be done to alleviate the housing shortage.

“As a real estate agent, if I could answer that question, I would be a millionaire,” he said.