Builders & Developers Encouraged to Apply for Housing Program
1/22/2010 7:02:20 AM
On January 20, 2010, the Cedar Rapids City Council unanimously approved the administrative plan for the Single Family New Construction Program (SFNC). The SFNC Program is a replacement housing program using Community Development Block Grant Disaster Relief funds (CDBG-DR) to replace housing units lost as a result of the Flood of 2008. The program offers a mortgage buy-down assistance of up to 25% to income-qualified households that are at or below 100% of the Area Median Income in the form of a five year preceding forgivable loan. The City of Cedar Rapids is eligible to receive over $13 million for this program.
The City Council added the following preferences to the plan:
- Preference for infill housing construction through a tiered geographic targeting method
- Preference given to single family detached units over condominium-style units
- A tiered builder fee structure that provides up to 15% in targeted infill areas and up to 10% in other areas of the city
Builders and developers are encouraged to submit projects for the SFNC Program by February 12, 2010 at 5:00 p.m. to the temporary location of City Hall at 3851 River Ridge Drive NE to the attention of Marty Hoeger. City staff will be preparing the program development plan to the Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED) for approval no later than March 1, 2010.
Homes built in the SFNC program are identified through a competitive scoring process based on factors such as a project’s location, use of sustainable building practices, housing type and builder’s experience. A portion of the funding for the program is set aside for infrastructure related costs for newly developed land and infill lots.
Applications from prospective buyers will not be accepted until final approval of the development plan which is expected to be in April 2010.
More information about the Single Family New Construction program is available on the city’s website at: http://www.cedar-rapids.org/
The City implemented a similar program in May 2009 which provided $8 million in funding for replacement housing assistance. Through a successful partnership among 22 local builders, IDED and local lenders, 184 units were constructed for income-qualified buyers. This investment yielded more than $25 million in new housing construction in 2009, and the program scored a 4.82 overall customer service rating on a five-point scale with five being the highest possible score.
