Future awardees will revitalize public and/or HUD-assisted housing, surrounding neighborhoods.
Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the availability of $256 million in Choice Neighborhoods Implementation (CNI) Grants funding to communities across the country. The CNI Grants will ultimately transform public and other HUD-assisted housing, while investing in the surrounding neighborhood and resident services. Public housing authorities, local governments, and/or Tribal entities are eligible and encouraged to apply for these transformative grants of up to $50 million each. The Notice of Funding Opportunity is available here.
“Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grants are a powerful tool communities can use to revitalize neighborhoods, bringing much-needed housing, services, and amenities to distressed areas,” said Secretary Marcia Fudge. “Today, we are pleased to invite public housing authorities, local governments, and Tribal entities to join the program and build on successes we’ve seen across the country. These $50 million awards are a once-in-a-generation investment in the housing, neighborhoods, and people that need it most.”
Choice Neighborhoods is HUD’s signature place-based program. Increased appropriations and a renewed national interest are fueling the program’s expansion to distressed communities across America. While cities such as Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Phoenix are grant recipients, mid-size and smaller cities such as Flint, MI; Lewiston, ME; and Tulsa, OK, have also received awards. This funding cycle will lead to six new Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grants in 2024. CNI Grants primarily fund the redevelopment of severely distressed HUD properties into a mixed-income community. The program has a three-pronged “Housing, People, and Neighborhood” approach that includes not only the redevelopment of distressed properties but also supports outcomes related to the residents’ health, education, and income while simultaneously investing in economic development and neighborhood improvement projects. This comprehensive approach means that grantees must be able to leverage the funds they receive from HUD with other public and private resources.
This announcement follows HUD’s recent $370 million award of eight new Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grants representing the cities of Atlanta, GA; Birmingham, AL; Lake Charles, LA; Miami, FL; Philadelphia, PA; Pittsburgh, PA; Tucson, AZ; and Wilmington, DE. Demonstrating the impact of Choice Neighborhoods investments locally, these eight recent awards will collectively invest $3 billion in distressed neighborhoods and create over 5,000 new housing units.
Choice Neighborhoods is a critical tool to preserve and expand the supply of affordable housing. Since the program’s inception, the Choice Neighborhoods program has completed 13,000 new mixed-income units built across 52 cities. More than 37,000 units are planned. HUD has awarded more than $1.7 billion in Implementation Grant funds to date, with grantees achieving incredible results. For example, Memphis, Tennessee is using its grant to build 712 new, mixed-income housing units in the South City neighborhood, while also making repairs to surrounding homes and businesses. Similarly, Louisville, Kentucky is using its grant to build 620 new, mixed-income housing units. As a result, Louisville’s Russell neighborhood has seen new retail and quality childcare services come into the community. Norwalk, Connecticut, which was devastated by Superstorm Sandy in 2012, used its Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant to develop 273 housing units and completed a major cleanup on an adjacent “brownfield” site that was converted into a beautiful neighborhood park.
Overall, the Choice Neighborhoods program has led to new businesses, parks, and grocery stores, while resident incomes are increasing across most cities, in some cases doubling. A recent study conducted by Case Western Reserve University on the Chicago Choice Neighborhood showed HUD’s investment generated $400 million in public and private resources. In addition, the study found median household incomes increased, crime rates fell steadily, and home ownership rates increased.