Hamilton County commissioners plan to spend $33.5 million as gap financing for affordable housing. The board is set to vote Thursday on a contract with the Cincinnati Development Fund, the same nonprofit lending group managing Cincinnati’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
"To focus on gap funding and moving projects forward that may otherwise be stalled or couldn't move forward without additional assistance," said County Administrator Jeff Aluotto. "So to try to make sure that we're seeding the ground for as many projects as we possibly can."
The money comes from the county's portion of American Rescue Plan Act stimulus funds.
"The commitment by the county, when ultimately paired with the commitment by the city, is an incredible message to everybody that there is coordination, and that this community is behind this idea," said Luke Blocher, CDF chief strategy officer. "That has enormous impact when you go out to other [potential] funders — enormous impact."
CDF is now managing what they call a "fund of funds" with different sources, including the city and the county. Each fund has its own eligibility rules. Some will be used to offer low-interest loans to developers; the county's money will be given out as grants, which Blocher says are rare and incredibly helpful.
Because the county's contribution is from ARPA, the grants will have to follow guidelines from the U.S. Treasury. Those are somewhat complicated, as there are several ways a project could qualify for a grant:
- If a project has been awarded federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) or other federal programs
- If a project is affordable to households at or below 300% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines ($40,770/year for an individual or $83,250/year for a family of four)
- If a project is affordable to households at or below 65% of the Area Median Income (about $45,000/year for an individual or about $65,000/year for a family of four)
The funds are divided into three priority buckets:
- $17 million to build new affordable housing
- $8 million to preserve existing affordable housing
- $8 million to build new affordable housing for priority populations: seniors, people with disabilities, and people returning from incarceration
Certain factors will give projects an edge, like geographic diversity (throughout the whole county, not just clustered in Cincinnati), offering mixed-income housing, and working with new or smaller developers.
Blocher says he hopes the first project award from the $33.5 million will be ready to go early next year.
