ADU Pass
Emancipation Gardens
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Emancipation Gardens — a USPS locale inside St. Thomas, No County, Virgin Islands — navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. This locale covers 1 ZIP code.
St Thomas — city ADU rules and incentives
ADU legality: unclear
US Virgin Islands leaves ADU regulation to local municipalities under home-rule or Dillon-rule authority. St Thomas permits ADUs subject to local conditions per its zoning ordinance.
City cost envelope
$169,800 all-in for a 525 sqft ADU (permit + build). Midpoint scenario.
Permit fee bundle: $1,800.
City viability (selected uses)
County: no attribution (synthetic bucket)
No county
This city sits in the state's "no county" bucket — its ADU rules derive directly from state law and city ordinance without a county intermediary. No county-level sections apply.
US Virgin Islands state — ADU law and programs
State financing programs
USVI's primary housing finance vehicle is the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority (VIHFA), the territorial housing finance authority operating since June 1984. VIHFA is the lead agency administering CDBG-DR and CDBG-MIT funding ($1.86B+ allocated by HUD after the 2017 Hurricane Irma/María disasters); the broader recovery funding totals several billion dollars across multiple HUD allocations. The VIHFA-administered programs that touch ADU-equivalent work include the Homeowner Reconstruction Program for storm-damaged homes (where reconstruction can include accessory or replacement structures within program limits) and various utility-restoration programs (electrical, plumbing). VIHFA is NOT publishing a dedicated consumer ADU loan; ADU-equivalent work flows through the disaster-recovery channel or through conventional bank financing (Banco Popular VI, FirstBank VI). VIHFA also operates first-mortgage and homebuyer-assistance programs.
Federal (United States) — ADU-relevant rules and programs
Federal ADU law
The United States has no federal statute that directly regulates accessory dwelling unit entitlement or design. Land-use authority over ADUs resides with states and local governments under the traditional police power. Federal engagement is limited to financing (Fannie/Freddie/FHA/VA/USDA), flood insurance (FEMA/NFIP), and discretionary housing programs (HUD), which are recorded in sibling sections of this file.
Federal financing programs
Federal housing-finance agencies and GSEs set nationwide underwriting rules that govern whether an ADU can be financed, appraised, and counted toward mortgage qualifying income. The relevant actors are Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA (HUD), VA, and USDA Rural Development.
Federal tax credits
There is no ADU-specific federal tax credit. ADUs may incidentally qualify for existing federal energy-efficiency and clean-energy tax credits when the ADU construction includes qualifying measures.
Federal housing programs
HUD administers several discretionary programs that can fund ADU-related activity at the grantee's election, but none is an ADU-specific program.
ZIP Code
- 00804
Post Office
- 5046 Norre Gade, 00802