Deadline: 11-Jan-23
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issues this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to invite applications for the Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant Program.
The Choice Neighborhoods program leverages significant public and private dollars to support locally driven strategies that address struggling neighborhoods with severely distressed public housing and/or HUD-assisted housing through a comprehensive approach to neighborhood transformation. Local leaders, residents, and other stakeholders, such as public housing authorities, cities, schools, police, business owners, nonprofits, and private developers, come together to create and implement a plan that revitalizes distressed HUD housing and addresses the challenges in the surrounding neighborhood. The program helps communities transform neighborhoods by redeveloping severely distressed public and/or HUD-assisted housing and catalyzing critical improvements in the neighborhood.
To this end, Choice Neighborhoods is focused on three core goals:
- Housing: Replace severely distressed public and assisted housing with high-quality mixed-income housing that is well-managed and responsive to the needs of the surrounding neighborhood;
- People: Improve outcomes of households living in the target housing related to income and employment, health, and education; and
- Neighborhood: Create the conditions necessary for public and private investment in distressed neighborhoods to offer the kinds of amenities and assets, including safety, good schools, and commercial activity, that are important to families’ choices about their community
To achieve these core goals, successful applicants under this NOFO have in place a comprehensive neighborhood revitalization strategy, or “Transformation Plan.” This Transformation Plan is the guiding document for the revitalization of the public and/or assisted housing units, while simultaneously directing the transformation of the surrounding neighborhood and creating positive outcomes for families.
Experience shows that to successfully develop and implement the Transformation Plan, broad civic engagement is needed. Successful applicants need to work with public and private agencies, organizations (including philanthropic and civic organizations), banks and financial institutions, and individuals to gather and leverage the financial and human capital resources needed to support the sustainability of the plan. These efforts should build community support for and involvement in the development and implementation of the plan.
Funding Information
- Estimated Total Program Funding: $379,000,000
- Award Ceiling: $50,000,000
- Award Floor: $1
Eligibility Criteria
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Eligible Applicants.
- City or township governments
- Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities)
- Others
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Additional Information on Eligibility
- The local government of jurisdiction must be either the Lead Applicant or Co-Applicant. The Lead Applicant can be a Public Housing Agency (PHA), local government, or tribal entity. A Co-Applicant can be a local government, PHA, tribal entity, or the owner of the target HUDassisted housing (e.g., nonprofit or for-profit developer).
- Key Eligibility Criteria: There are three key eligibility criteria for Choice Neighborhoods funding. In addition to the applicant's eligibility, the application must also demonstrate that the proposal targets an eligible housing project and is located in an eligible neighborhood.
- Eligible Applicants: The local government of jurisdiction must be the Lead Applicant or Co-Applicant. (For applications that target Indian Housing, the tribe meets the requirement.) The Lead Applicant must be a local government, Public Housing Agency (PHA), or a tribal entity. A Co-Applicant can be a local government, PHA, tribal entity, or the owner of the target HUD-assisted housing (e.g., a nonprofit or for-profit developer).
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Troubled Status for PHAs: If a PHA applicant was designated as troubled by HUD pursuant to section 6(j)(2) of the 1937 Act on the most recently released Operational Troubled List, HUD will use documents and information available to it to determine whether that PHA qualifies as an eligible applicant. In accordance with section 24(j) of the 1937 Act, a troubled PHA may still be eligible to apply if it:
- Is designated as troubled principally for reasons that will not affect its capacity to carry out a revitalization program;
- Is making substantial progress toward eliminating the deficiencies of the agency that resulted in its troubled status;
- Has not been found to be in noncompliance with fair housing or other civil rights requirements; or
- Is otherwise determined by HUD to be capable of carrying out a revitalization program.
- Previous Participation Certification for Multifamily Assisted Property Owners. If the Co-Applicant is the owner of the assisted property that is the subject of the Choice Neighborhoods grant application, the application must include the owner's most recent Previous Participation Certification (HUD-2530). If the owner has defaulted on a mortgage loan or has less than satisfactory review ratings (physical inspections, management and financial reviews), HUD will use documents and information available to it to determine whether the owner qualifies as an eligible applicant. Approvals of entities that have defaulted or received unsatisfactory review ratings will be subjected to HUD’s Previous Participation clearance review process. Applicants may still be eligible to apply for Choice Neighborhoods funding if HUD deems the applicant to be making substantial progress in addressing the deficiencies related to such default or review rating. This requirement is not applicable to applications that target only public housing or Indian housing.
For more information, visit NOFO.
For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=343856
