The North Carolina Department of Commerce’s Division of Community Revitalization has launched a $70 million funding opportunity to expand affordable multi-family housing following Hurricane Helene.
The funding represents the first round of the state’s Renew NC housing recovery effort, which is focused on rebuilding and increasing rental housing impacted by the storm. Renew NC funds come from a $1.4 billion U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) grant.
The Multi-Family Construction and Repair (MCR) Program supports new construction, rehabilitation and reconstruction of multi-family rental properties with five or more units. Funding can also be used for site preparation, infrastructure improvements, architectural and engineering fees, and other HUD-required activities. Project awards range from $500,000 to $15 million and target low- to middle-income housing in 28 counties and one ZIP code identified by HUD and the state as Most Impacted and Distressed areas.
The state is allowing both Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and non-LIHTC projects to participate. Non-LIHTC applicants may include for-profit and nonprofit developers, public housing authorities, local governments or eligible joint ventures.
Applications for the MCR Program are open through Nov. 2.
In addition to the larger multi-family unit funding, a Renew NC Small Rental Rehabilitation Program opportunity is also available for owners of smaller rental properties. The program provides $57.4 million in grants for owners of rental properties with four or fewer units damaged by Hurricane Helene. Priority is given to landlords who owned the property at the time of the storm and are current on taxes, mortgages and loans. The property must remain vacant from the time of application through the construction period. While there is currently no application deadline, owners must agree to a 10-year affordability restriction requiring assisted units to be rented to lower- and middle-income households at HUD-established rates.
Renew NC also includes a separate Commercial District Revitalization Program to support storm recovery and redevelopment in eligible downtown and commercial areas. Applications for that program are open through Aug. 4.
Photo by D Goug from Pexels
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