Housing News
Total: 7
District Receives $2.6 Million for Lead-Hazard Reduction
The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced on February 25 the award of $2.6 million in funding to the District of Columbia for lead hazard reduction. The funding is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The Recovery Act includes $13.61 billion for projects and programs administered by HUD, 75 percent of which was allocated to recipients only one week after President Obama signed the Act into law.
The District provides residents funds to identify and control lead-based paint hazards in eligible single- and multi-family dwellings under the Lead Safe Washington Program (LSW) which is carried out by the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD).
Deteriorated lead-based paint and lead-contaminated dust present significant health hazards to individuals of all ages and children younger than six-years-old in particular. By addressing the lead-based paint and lead dust hazards in housing, the District can create a lead-safe environment for residents.
DHCD estimates the Recovery Act funds, combined with local Housing Production Trust Funds, can reduce lead hazards in up to 225 homes across the District. The Department is awaiting further notification from HUD about when it will receive the funding.
For more information about the Lead Safe Washington Program, visit DHCD’s website at
dhcd.dc.gov.
District Awarded $94.5 Million in Recovery Act Housing Funds
Award includes $7.5 million for homelessness prevention and $27 million for improvements to public housing
The District of Columbia has been awarded $94.5 million thus far from the Department of Housing and Urban Development as a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
HUD awarded more than $10 billion or 75 percent of a total $13.6 billion to states and cities across the country, including the District, to fund programs including foreclosure prevention and mitigation; homelessness prevention; community development; affordable housing; and lead hazard prevention.
The remaining 25 percent of recovery funds, which will be competitively awarded later, will be used to build on the Obama Administration’s priorities to promote green jobs and mitigate the destabilizing effects of foreclosures on communities.
HUD’s funding and awards to the District include:
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$2 billion for Project-based Rental Assistance, of which the District of Columbia will receive $40.9 million to invest in full 12-month funding for Section 8 project-based housing contracts. These funds will be administered by the DC Housing Authority.
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$3 billion in Public Housing Capital Funding, of which $27 million will go to the DC Housing Authority for immediate improvements to public housing.
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$2.25 billion in Tax Credit Assistance Program Funds, of which the District of Columbia will receive $11.6 million to assist Low Income Housing Tax Credit properties (9 percent and 4 percent), which have not been able to find adequate private investment. (Note: Applies only to projects assigned tax credits in 2007, 2008 or 2009 and priority will be given to projects that can begin construction immediately and can reach completion by 2012.) The Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) will administer these funds.
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$1.5 billion in Homeless Prevention Funds (through the Emergency Shelter Grant program), of which the District of Columbia will receive $7.5 million. DHCD will administer these funds.
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$1 billion in CDBG Funds, of which the District of Columbia will receive $4.9 million to use for a variety of purposes including but not limited to investments in the creation and preservation of affordable homes. DHCD will administer these funds.
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$100 million in Lead Hazard Reduction/Healthy Homes funds, of which the District will receive $2.6 million to invest in lead-based paint and hazard reduction and remediation activities under the Lead Safe Washington Program (LSW). These funds will be administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development.
Still to be awarded by HUD are funds that could boost District programs that will help stabilize areas of the city hardest hit by foreclosures (Low Income Housing Tax Credit Enhancement and Neighborhood Stabilization Program) and assist low and moderate income homeowners with low interest loans to apply energy efficient upgrades to their properties (Section 202/Section 8 Energy Retrofit Program).
District agencies are moving quickly to identify projects and develop spending plans for HUD’s approval.
District Files Plan for Use of Recovery Act Funds for Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program With US Department of Housing and Urban Development
The District of Columbia is slated to receive approximately $7.5 million in Federal stimulus funds to support rapid re-housing and stabilization assistance for people who are currently homeless and for those who are most at risk of homelessness. These funds will be used to provide direct housing subsidies, where appropriate, as well as an array of supportive services.
The District’s plan for using the funds, which was developed jointly by the Department of Housing and Community Development and the Department of Human Services, is designed to achieve the following goals:
Goal 1: Prevent people from becoming homeless.
Goal 2: Divert people who are applying for shelter, when appropriate, into other housing.
Goal 3: Help people who become homeless to quickly move into permanent housing.
Criteria such as employment status, income level, employment experience, education level, job skills and training experience, and willingness to address barriers to self-sufficiency will be considered as factors for targeting those that are likely to be able to sustain housing beyond the timeframe of HPRP supports.
The District will use a uniform assessment tool to enable a person-centric approach to service delivery. The assessment tool will be used to understand the range of supports the individual or family is eligible for and will be the basis for referral and connection to an individualized array of mainstream services. The assessment will be the foundation for connection to HPRP or other existing prevention or housing programs and will determine the level at which the individual or family is offered case management to assist with housing stabilization. Applicants exhibiting a large number of risk factors will be targeted with more intensive supports. The District will maximize the opportunity presented by HPRP to offer assessments throughout community based housing counseling and existing homeless services programs to enhance navigation of mainstream resources and target individuals for rapid re-housing.
The District will provide enhanced case management services, on a voluntary basis, for those households for which the assessment indicated a high level of risk. For example, there are families who have repeatedly applied for rental assistance, or who have experienced evictions and episodes of homelessness in the past. As a further means to prevent future homelessness, case management services are needed to prevent these individuals and families from experiencing crisis in the future. Some of the factors that would make an individual or family high risk include: one or more previous attempts to access prevention services; one or more previous evictions; poor money management and bad credit; unemployment or underemployment; and, disabilities. Some individuals and/or families may experience several of these high risk factors. These services are intended to be brief in nature and provided by qualified social service professionals.
The District’s plan, which was filed with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development on May 18, 2009, is available here*. HUD has said that it will review the filings quickly and the District is preparing to begin implementing the plan as soon as a notification to proceed is received.
District Receives $33.7 Million for Affordable Housing Development
The Treasury Department announced the District of Columbia will receive $33.7 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding to spur the continued development of affordable housing units.
“This new stimulus funding will have an immediate and critical impact on the development and rehabilitation of affordable housing in the District of Columbia,” said Mayor Adrian M. Fenty. “It will help us move forward with affordable housing projects, and it will generate much needed jobs for District residents.”
Under Section 1602 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009, housing credit agencies, such as the District’s Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), are eligible to receive grants in lieu of low-income housing credits under section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code) for 2009. In doing so, the District is electing to take a portion of its 2009 housing credit ceiling in the form of grant amounts, and agreeing to the terms and conditions applicable to the Section 1602 program.
DHCD submitted the application to the Treasury Department on June 9, 2009. In advancement of its mission to create and preserve opportunities for affordable housing and economic development in the nation’s capital city, DHCD will direct the Section 1602 grant funds to finance construction or acquisition and rehabilitation of qualified low-income building for low-income housing in lieu of low-income housing tax credits.
“I am extremely proud of the DHCD team’s quick turnaround on this application, as funds like these are especially necessary in this difficult financing market,” said DHCD Director Leila Finucane Edmonds.
Working to maximize ARRA funding, DHCD issued a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) in April for projects focused on elderly housing; special needs housing; housing for chronically homeless individuals and families in mixed-income buildings with supportive services; preservation of housing affected by expiring federal subsidies; new/substantial rehabilitation of housing; and new construction and preservation of affordable housing units. The application deadline was June 1. DHCD will review all qualified applications and will announce the selection of projects at a later date.
DHCD Seeks Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing (HPRP) Grant Applications
The Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) is soliciting applications under its Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing (HPRP) Grant with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to prevent homelessness in the District. The HPRP grant is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
The purpose of this Request for Applications (RFA) is to solicit applications for legal services from nonprofit/tax-exempt corporations and law firms with a history of providing pro bono services. The HPRP grant will help support the prevention and elimination of homelessness in the District. Funding under this notice and will be available in FY 2010, beginning on October 1, 2009.
HUD Awards DCHA $5.8 Million Recovery Grant for Green ConstructionNew development to bring jobs and energy-efficient affordable housing east of the river
The District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA) was awarded more than $5.8 million by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the new Sheridan Station development.
The Public Housing Capital Funds are provided through The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) and are specifically designated for the creation of energy efficient communities through substantial rehabilitation or new construction of public housing developments.
"This grant is a perfect example of using the Recovery Act to rebuild the economy stronger and wiser by investing in new and emerging sustainable industries," said HUD Director Shaun Donovan. "This Recovery Act funding will not only reduce energy costs for public housing authorities and mitigate negative environmental impacts, but will also create much-needed 'green' jobs."
“Phase I of the Sheridan Station development is on track to become the premier green, transit-oriented mixed-income housing development in the District of Columbia,” said DCHA Executive Director Michael Kelly. “The funding will help pay for a solar power array, vegetative green roof, bio-retention facilities, Energy Star appliances and sustainable building materials.”
A guiding principal of the development of Phase I of Sheridan Station is to create a green, holistic model of redevelopment starting from the site planning itself. Phase I includes a number of new urbanist concepts, including reduced parking ratios and dedicated bicycle spaces. Numerous pedestrian connections have been made to bring residents from the site down to the public sidewalks onto Sheridan Road and towards the Metro station. The name “Sheridan Station” was given to the project to reflect its future as a transit oriented development near the Anacostia Metro Station.
In order to encourage resident health, the 104-unit multifamily building will have a community meeting room, a fitness facility and a wellness center/medical practice with an established medical provider as its tenant. The building will also have a vegetative green roof terrace which will double as a stormwater management facility and place for resident relaxation.
In addition to the green initiatives, a portion of the funding will go towards jobs for low-income residents through DCHA’s Section 3 Program.
Phase I of Sheridan Station is part of a larger HOPE VI redevelopment effort which involves the new construction of 344 mixed-income housing units on a vacant public housing site in the historic Anacostia neighborhood of Southeast. This redevelopment was spurred with a $20 million HOPE VI Grant DCHA received from HUD in 2007.
William C. Smith & Company, the developer for Sheridan Station, is a DC-based firm with four decades of experience providing integrated real estate services to the Washington, DC metropolitan area and has developed over 5,000 units of housing for families in all income categories throughout the city.
DHCD Applies Stimulus Tax Credit Funds to Local Rental Housing Projects
The Department of Housing and Community Development announced the selection of five planned local rental housing projects for further underwriting for a total of $11,019,048 in available Tax Credit Assistance Program Funds (TCAP). Once completed, these projects will create 336 units of affordable rental housing in the nation’s capital.
Funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) new Tax Credit Assistance Program (TCAP) provides low income Housing Tax Credit allocating agencies additional resources to fund affordable rental housing projects across the nation while stimulating job creation in the hard-hit construction industry. In May, HUD announced the District of Columbia would receive $11.7 million in TCAP funds to complete affordable rental housing projects here which, because of the tight capital markets, had been stalled due to the economic downturn.
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