Background
As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a competitive grant application intended to stabilize neighborhoods that have been hardest hit by the effects of foreclosed and abandoned properties. The Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 (NSP2) was developed as a competitive grant program through HUD, the first type of program HUD has ever embarked on. A Request for Proposals was issued on May 4, 2009. The basic requirements of this grant application were:
- All funds distributed must benefit households with incomes ≤ 120% of the area median income (AMI) and 25% of funds must benefit households ≤ 50% AMI (see table below)
- Selected proposed project geography must score at least 18 using HUD foreclosure rate assessment
- Each grant recipient must return at least 100 foreclosed or abandoned housing units to productive use or otherwise mitigated their negative effects
- Housing units must remain affordable for a minimum of 15 years
- To establish capacity to carry out the project, applicants must have completed 75 units of each proposed activity in the last two years (acquisition, rehab, etc.)
- 50% of funds must be expended in first two years; all funds expended in three years
- A minimum of $5 million had to be requested in the grant application
The City of Evanston partnered with Brinshore Development LLC in submitting an application requesting $40.6 million to accomplish:
- Purchase and rehab 100 foreclosed/abandoned housing units and;
- Construct a 98-unit mixed income and tenure residential community on vacant industrial property in west Evanston
Following a unanimous vote from the Evanston City Council, The Community Development Department and Brinshore Development submitted an application to HUD on July 15, 2010. Below is a map illustrating the Proposed Target Geography for the NSP2 Application.
HUD ultimately granted the City of Evanston and Brinshore Development $18.15 million in NSP2 funds. The revised program includes:
- Acquire and rehab 100 housing units to be occupied by households ≤ 120% of the area median income (currently $89,760 for a family of four)
- Property types may include single-family homes, townhomes, small flats, multi-family buildings and condominiums, based on availability
- Provide minimum eight hours of housing counseling for homebuyers
- Provide soft second mortgages to home purchasers
- Funds not used for the required 100 units of foreclosed/abandoned housing will be used for new development, which will be re-scaled or phased based on funding
- At minimum, 25% of construction contracts will go to minority -, woman- and Evanston-based businesses. The program must also achieve HUD Section 3 goals of employing low- and moderate-income persons, and the City’s Local Employment Program goals.
Evanston is one of only 56 grantees across the United States to receive funding in this innovative program.
View the Original Application
View the Revised Budget