The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has announced the availability of $120 million in Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grants.
The maximum individual award is $30 million. The deadline to apply is June 28.
The Choice Neighborhoods program supports locally driven strategies to address struggling neighborhoods with distressed public or HUD-assisted housing through a comprehensive approach to neighborhood transformation.
HUD has made several changes from prior Choice Neighborhoods rounds. The new funding notice:
· Revises multiple rating factors to simplify and improve for clarity;
· Removes threshold requirement related to the Capital Fund Financing Program and made it a program requirement to be addressed post-grant award, if applicable;
· Adds a new rating factor in the housing strategy section that evaluates the financial feasibility of the housing plan;
· Removes housing strategy rating factors on replacement housing and low-income housing tax credit leverage;
· Combines rating factors related to resident involvement and community engagement into one rating factor; and
· Provides alternate standards for applications targeting Indian housing for some rating factors.
HUD is encouraging activities in communities with Preferred Sustainability Status and/or Promise Zones and will award two bonus points for qualified activities within a designated zone or area and supporting either or both initiatives.
