Cantrell Allocates $7M for Affordable Housing Development

NEW ORLEANS — From the City of New Orleans:

The Mayor’s Office of Housing Policy and Community Development has released a Notice of Funding Availability for the development of affordable rental housing in New Orleans. The funding will be comprised of U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development dollars, General Obligation Bond Proceeds and Neighborhood Housing Improvement Funds.  The deadline to apply for the available $7 million is Nov. 4.

“I’ve said repeatedly that affordable housing is a priority and has been for my administration since day one, and we are taking all the right steps to provide our people with access to the housing they deserve,” said Mayor LaToya Cantrell. “We’ve prioritized bringing more affordable units online through new construction projects, and others in the pipeline that were blighted since Katrina. We are intentional in matching resources from our state and federal partners to address housing availability in amenity rich neighborhoods while investing in neighborhoods that have been divested of such amenities necessary for healthy environments.” 

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Since 2018, the City has issued annual NOFAs totaling $26 million for affordable housing development. As a result, 1,097 mixed-rate housing units have either been completed, are currently under construction, or in predevelopment stages and scheduled to break ground within the next 90 days. Mayor Cantrell recently approved the Redevelopment Framework which will make available under- utilized publicly owned lots for development. The Redevelopment Program will be ideal for budding developers and will provide infill development, which is often not the first choice of large-scale developers.

The City is incentivizing long-term affordability, project readiness and place- based development through this NOFA. Disadvantaged neighborhoods will be supported with economic resources through the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development and New Orleans Redevelopment Authority which offers financing to entrepreneurs and reconstruct existing store fronts.

The City held a well-attended informational session for stakeholders on Oct. 21, 2021. The NOFA is expected to fund five to seven developments that will produce 400-600 units. The funding awarded by the City will likely be matched with other federal and state funding such as Low Income Housing Tax Credits. These dollars serve as gap funding and usually comprise 10-15 percent of the project’s total development costs. In addition to providing much needed housing units, there are also secondary benefits to housing development, such as providing a huge economic impact and increase to the area’s tax base.

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The $7 million NOFA is allocated for affordable rental housing only. However, the City recently allocated an additional $7.6 million for renters interested in becoming homeowners. A homebuyer can qualify for up to $65,000 for down payment assistance and $5,000 for closing costs. “Under the Cantrell Administration, no one is left out,” said Marjorianna Willman, Director of the Office of Housing Policy and Community Development. “There are opportunities for renters and homebuyers, as well as home and business owners. We are not leaving any funding on the table; we will remain good stewards so that we are contenders for any future available resources from our partners.”

Proposals that fall below the funding line will be placed on the City’s waitlist. The City maintains a pipeline of viable projects in case an awarded project fails to meet critical benchmarks or if new funding becomes available.  Interested persons can contact Richard Boseman at rnboseman@nola.gov for further information.

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