Government Market News StaffThe city of Nashville has entered a public-private partnership (P3) to help create, preserve and develop affordable housing options. The city, Metro Nashville and several funding partners have invested $75 million into the Nashville Catalyst Fund to provide financial assistance to accelerate development.
To keep up with population growth, Nashville will need 55,000 new housing units by 2030. About a third of those units – 18,000 – must be for households earning below 80% of the median household income. The city expects the Nashville Catalyst fund to help preserve and create at least 3,000 affordable rental properties over the next 10 years.
The city will provide fast, flexible loans to help developers break into and find success in the affordable housing market. The fund offers developers the capital needed to accelerate affordable housing projects, allowing them to preserve affordable homes that would otherwise be lost to the market.
One of the major goals of the fund is to help affordable housing developers make unregulated housing comply with income and rent regulations. Not only must the housing be livable and up-to-code, but it must also be affordable for the fund’s target demographic.
The fund will prioritize affordable housing developers that will invest in preserving and developing income-restricted housing over the next several decades. Eligible developers include non-profit, BIPOC and mission-driven organizations dedicated to supporting underserved, low-income communities without access to reliable housing options.
The loans available through the fund are not available anywhere else in the market, providing affordable housing developers with the support they need to preserve housing affordability in a highly competitive real estate environment. Developers will also be able to use the funds to jumpstart projects without waiting for public subsidy or grant proceeds.
Photo courtesy of Brett Wharton on Unsplash
