Nashville will receive $5 million from the White House and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to remove barriers to affordable housing production and preservation by creating a Faith Based Development Institute. Metro Nashville will also use the funds to strengthen 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](https://www.nashville.gov/sites/default/files/2024-08/HUD_check_presentation.jpg).
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.
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“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 to Nashville 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. 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.
The Clark UMC Barnes-funded project, one O’Connell worked on directly as a councilmember, faced several hurdles to completion. 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:
– Metro now offers priority plans and permits review for affordable housing projects.
– Affordable housing developers participating in an income-restricted affordable housing program, like the Barnes Fund, can request affordability certification by contacting the Housing Division.
– Metro recently established an Affordable Housing Permit, flagging all affordable housing projects certified by the Housing Division for priority review.
Clark UMC received $400,000 from the Barnes Fund to construct the six homes and improve the infrastructure along Phillips St. In nearly 11 years, the Barnes Fund has awarded nearly $110 million, leading to the development and preservation of more than 4,700 homes.
In the first 11 months of Mayor O’Connell’s administration, significant investments have been made in affordability:
– Cut the ribbon on the Nashville Rescue Mission – Women and Children’s Campus in October 2023.
– Affordable Housing Resources opened new affordable townhomes in Madison in November 2023.
– Launched the Mobile Housing Navigation Center in November 2023, focusing on helping young adults and LGBTQ+ youth find stable housing.
– Mending Hearts launched a new transitional living recovery home in the Nations in November 2023.
– MDHA has more affordable homes under construction currently than at any point in the last 54 years, with 400 new homes underway at Park Point East.
– Cherry Oak Apartments in East Nashville opened in March, providing 95 more homes.
– The Metro Council approved the Master Developer Agreement with The Fallon Co. in April, which will build 695 units of affordable housing.
– Mayor O’Connell announced the formation of the Nashville Catalyst Fund in June to help preserve affordability and increase affordable housing production.
– The 808 at Skyline Ridge opened in Madison in July, providing 178 affordable homes.
– In his first operating budget, Mayor O’Connell added $30 million to the Barnes fund for affordable housing.
Between June and October 2024, the Metro Housing Division will award over $50 million in Barnes Fund grants to nonprofit organizations to create and preserve over 1,000 affordable homes. In the last 12 months, 1,919 previously unhoused Nashvillians were moved into housing with the assistance of more than 42 community partner agencies.
Source: Read Original Release
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