08/22/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/22/2024 13:34
Nashville will receive $5 million from the White House and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to remove barriers to affordable housing production and preservation by creating a Faith Based Development Institute. Metro Nashville will also use the funds to bolster its Affordable Housing Finance Program, create and preserve new permanent supportive housing units, and accelerate development capacity with emerging partners. (See attached photo of check presentation).
Nashville is one of just 21 communities nationwide out of more than 175 applicants to receive the funding award from HUD's new Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing) program, which assists with lowering housing costs. On Thursday, Mayor Freddie O'Connell announced that a portion of these funds will support the new Faith Based Development Institute and facilitate affordable housing development on land owned by faith-based organizations.
"As the cost of land increases, it becomes even more challenging to create affordable housing units, and our faith community, which owns nearly 4,000 acres of land across the county, represents a significant opportunity to partner together to create affordable housing options," Mayor O'Connell said. "We appreciate the support of our federal partners whose funding will help us add another set of tools to our toolkit to support the creation of more affordable homes across Nashville and address one of the greatest cost of living challenges we face."
Claudette Fernandez, the General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development from HUD, presented a check (see attached photo) to Nashville Thursday on the 50th anniversary of the Community Development Block Grant Program. She noted, "This funding will build upon the impressive work Nashville and Davidson County have already done to increase housing supply, adopt bold policy strategies, and greater partnership with citizens, developers, and the private sector."
A report prepared by Think Tennessee and the Urban Institute identified approximately 1,600 parcels (3,491 acres) of land geographically dispersed across Davidson County owned by faith-based institutions. More than half of the acres (57%) are undeveloped and could be used for housing.
"We are grateful to HUD for selecting Nashville to be one of the PRO Housing Grant recipients, which is the first Federal Grant Metro's Housing Division has received," said Angela Hubbard, Metro Housing Director. "This funding will help our community unlock additional innovative tools to create and preserve much-needed affordable housing."
The PRO Housing program is the latest success in Metro's work to increase housing stock and make Nashville a more affordable city.
Clark UMC affordable homes open
Earlier this week, Clark United Methodist Church opened six new affordable homes on its property off Phillips Street that will help six families find a new place to call home that leaves them income they can use for more of their needs.
The Clark UMC Barnes-funded project, one O'Connell worked on directly as a councilmember, faced several hurdles to get to completion, and Mayor O'Connell used it as an example of a project that could have moved faster. To that end, the mayor has instituted several reforms aimed at streamlining affordable housing projects so that delays like the ones that impacted Clark UMC should be less likely for future affordable housing developers:
Clark UMC received $400,000 from the Barnes Fund to construct the six homes and improve the infrastructure along Phillips St. In the nearly 11 years of the Barnes Fund, nearly 110 million dollars have been awarded, leading to the development and preservation of more than 4,700 homes.
First 11 months of O'Connell administration: an investment in affordability