Round 2 of the City’s Harvey Multifamily Program includes $120 million of investment that will create an additional 1,221 apartments

June 22, 2020 — The City of Houston Housing and Community Development Department is awarding $119,800,000 towards 10 proposals to bring more affordable rental homes to Houston. The Harvey Multifamily Program, funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, seeks to replace or renovate rental homes lost or damaged during Hurricane Harvey. These 10 developments will produce 1,221 rental units which, combined with prior awards, will contribute over 2,850 new rental homes to Houston’s housing supply.

This second round of Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery funding allocates nearly $280,000,000 of the $350,00,000 originally allocated to the Harvey Multifamily Program. Of the 2,850 new rentals, over 2,500 of these units will be targeted to low- and moderate-income renters, with over 90% of them targeted for households at or below 60% of area median income. Estimated investment in the City for the all developments in the program exceeds three quarters of $1 billion.

The 10 selected projects support a resilient, equitable strategy for disaster recovery and are slated to receive 9% housing tax credits from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs later this year. These selected projects represent the second consecutive year that all 9% housing tax credit applications within our region have been awarded to developments within the City of Houston. This confirms the strength of the applications as well as the need for more affordable rental units in the City. By combining multiple funding sources, developers will be able to produce more homes at a higher quality and leverage over $230 million in additional financing. Four of the properties selected will be designated as supportive housing, providing services and resources to serve our most vulnerable residents. Each development will incorporate resilient building practices to protect residents from future disasters.

The projects selected also advance the department’s equitable distribution of affordable homes. The department chose developments built near A-and B-rated schools, in areas facing high rental costs, in designated Community Revitalization Areas and Complete Communities, and with access to amenities and public transportation. These 10 projects are spread over six council districts, including council district G, one of the districts with the fewest affordable rental homes. By creating new homes in neighborhoods that have traditionally been inaccessible to low- and moderate-income residents, the program will open greater housing choice to residents.

The 10 proposed awards for this round can be viewed in full in the table below.

i) amount is subject to revision during HCDD underwriting.

For more information regarding the Harvey Multifamily Program, please refer to the program’s website, which includes an interactive map of projects that have received funding.