With $100,000 in Appalachian Regional Commission Area Development Program grant funding, the Bedford County Development Association is moving forward with a first-of-its-kind housing project.

The association will use the money to complete preliminary engineering and design work on an 18-acre site adjacent to the upcoming 40-acre Bedford County Business Park III near the Bedford County Airport.

According to BCDA President/CEO Jennifer Marsh, a lack of affordable housing stock is one of the key hurdles preventing businesses from moving to Bedford County.

Without enough space for their employees to live in the area, companies would rather consider alternative locations with more housing options, she said.

Three separate studies on regional housing needs commissioned by the development association over the past few years all identified a lack of quality housing as a critical gap that must be addressed, she said.

The group plans to issue a request for proposal for the engineering and design work in the near future, with the goal of having the site pad-ready — prepared for rapid development — by 2027.

Completing the actual work by late 2026 would be ideal, Marsh said, but unlikely due to the scope of the project.

“It can’t happen soon enough,” she said.

Once the site is pad-ready, the goal is to sell either the whole or a portion of the site to a reputable housing developer to construct a mix of duplexes, townhomes and/or detached single family homes in the $200,000 to $300,000 retail price range, according to Marsh.

“Employers across the region continue to cite housing availability as a barrier to workforce growth. By preparing this site for workforce housing, we are not only reducing development risks for private investors but also making a long-term commitment to building a community where families and skilled professionals choose to live and work,” development authority board chair Jeff Crist said in a statement.

The association has been investing heavily in the area west of the airport in recent years, breaking ground at the last unoccupied lot within the Bedford County Business Park II in September and purchasing a 151-acre site across the street in early 2025.

According to Marsh, 40 acres from the 151-acre property will eventually be occupied by Business Park III, with 18 acres dedicated to the housing tract and the remaining land reserved for future projects.

The development group recently completed a traffic study on Country Ridge Road — a winding country two-lane road that connects Business Parks II and III plus the housing tract — that determined that the current road will be able to support the increased traffic flow without widening or signalization, she said.

Marsh describes the investment as a “critical step” toward creating enough available housing to support the growing business environment in Bedford County.

The effort is the first of its kind for the Bedford development association, which in the past has focused on commercial-only development projects.

“It’s an important piece of the puzzle,” she said, “because we want people to stay here, to live and work here.”

Mirror Staff Writer Conner Goetz is at 814-946-7535.