Last month HUD announced a new program – funded through the Inflation Reduction Act – that will assist affordable housing properties become more energy efficient, implement new cutting-edge environmental technologies and combat the effects of climate change.
According to HUD Notice H 2023-05, dated May 11, the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program for Multifamily Housing (GRRP) will provide funds to implement a new program to improve the housing quality and resilience of certain existing HUD-assisted multifamily properties for residents through loans, grants, and a variety of other actions to facilitate utility-saving and climate hazard-mitigating investments. HUD believes these investments will also help combat the climate crisis and support equitable economic development in lower-income communities.
GRRP has three broad goals:
1. To reduce energy and water use in HUD-assisted multifamily properties;
2. To make HUD-assisted multifamily properties more resilient to extreme weather events and natural disasters; and,
3. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions from HUD-assisted multifamily properties, both directly and by using materials with less Embodied Carbon.
To meet these goals, HUD will provide up to $837.5 million in grants and up to $4 billion in direct loans. All GRRP investments will be made in affordable housing communities serving low-income families and will require at least five years of extended affordability, and a minimum of 15 years of affordability.
GRRP funding will be implemented through three separate award categories designed to meet the needs of properties in different situations; there will be three parallel Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFOs) which were released contemporaneously on May 11. These categories are the Elements Award, the Leading Edge Award, and the Comprehensive Award. Contact us if you want to know the difference among the award programs.
How much per project will be available? HUD Elements Awards will be up to $750,000 per property, with a per unit cap of $40,000. Leading Edge awards will be up to $10,000,000 per property, with a per unit cap of $60,000. Comprehensive awards will be up to $20,000,000 per property, with a per unit cap of $80,000.
To ensure fairness in the process and not penalize owners who are not ready to seek funding, HUD will accept applications for each type of award over four three-month periods, starting on June 29, 2023 and ending on May 30, 2024. The first “wave” of application dates is June 29 (Elements), July 31 (Leading Edge) and August 31 (Comprehensive).
Please contact us for more information on this exciting new program.
