The grant is issued through U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and can help with different programs and projects to address affordable housing issues for low-to-moderate-income residents.
City Council held a public hearing on the issue Oct. 7 and city staff has gathered community feedback at various events including Western Days, Grants Coordinator Elana Shehan said.
The details
The city has made the grant application document available for review and public comment online or in person at 151 W. Church St. until Oct. 10. Proposed projects include the preservation of multifamily housing as well as the rehabilitation of single family and low-density housing, according to city documents.
The preservation project would assist in incentivizing existing multifamily apartment complexes to provide affordable units and health and safety improvements, according to the grant application.
The city is requesting $2.25 million, which will provide financing for affordable housing developers seeking land and construction costs that require affordability. This project will focus on incentives for developers to purchase an existing multifamily complex that is in need of rehabilitation.
The funds would also provide the capital to extend the life of the city’s multifamily housing units, per the application. The remaining $500,000 in the funding request would go towards staffing, project management and administration related to the proposed projects.
Zooming in
City officials plan to identify properties where there are vacant or underutilized structures, and purchase those properties to create affordable single family homes or middle-size housing such as duplexes, townhomes or condos. In this plan, the city would partner with nonprofit community housing developers to create low-density housing options.
Lewisville’s housing stock is almost 50% single-family homes and 50% multifamily complexes, per city documents. Only 4% of the housing stock is considered middle housing, townhomes, duplexes or condos. Providing this additional housing type will provide more opportunities for residents, city documents state.
The city is requesting the other $2.25 million to assist with this project and anticipates the funds will improve insufficient supply of diverse housing stock options, according to the application.
Also of note
City officials applied for the grant last year, but Lewisville was not one of the 21 awardees.
The application is due on Oct. 12, 2024. If awarded, city officials would have until the end of FY 2030 to expend the funds.
