ACTION REQUESTED:
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Communication from the City Manager and the Community Development Director with a Request to APPROVE $560,077.00 in HUD HOME FUNDS for PEORIA OPPORTUNITIES FOUNDATION for the Construction of Thirty (30) New, Affordable, Single-Family, Owner-Occupied Homes Located in the East Bluff Neighborhood. (Council District 3)
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BACKGROUND: Every year, the City of Peoria receives HOME funds from the US Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD), which are to be used for affordable housing development and construction. The City also receives Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to be used for similar purposes, as well as more general community development ends. On May 9, 2019, the City of Peoria released a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) soliciting proposals for the East Bluff neighborhood, outlining the availability of approximately $560,077 in HOME funds and $250,000 in CDBG funds. Interested parties were required to complete and submit applications detailing how their organizations would use and leverage the HUD funds by June 20, 2019.
The City of Peoria received two, quality responses for the HOME funds in the NOFA: one from Habitat of Humanity and one from Peoria Opportunities Foundation. A panel consisting of five City staff independently reviewed the applications among outlined criteria provided in the NOFA including but not limited to strength of overall concept, experience of developer, budget and appropriateness of costs, demonstrated neighborhood need, local support, readiness to proceed, and leverage of additional funding sources.
The project with the highest total score and rated the first by all reviewers was Peoria Opportunities Foundation. Peoria Opportunities Foundation's proposal includes developing thirty homes on twenty-five vacant lots, with a mix of two- and three-bedroom single-family and duplex units. Six (6) units well be affordable to families at or below 30% Area Median Income (AMI), fifteen ...
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