COLUMBUS, OH – April 15, 2009 – (RealEstateRama) — The Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) Board today approved eight initiatives to be financed through the Housing Investment Fund. In September 2008, the Board approved the Housing Investment Fund to support affordable housing initiatives in Ohio that could not be currently funded through OHFA’s standard programs. The Fund provides an opportunity for developers and housing organizations to receive grants or loans to respond to changing housing needs around the state.
“Providing the resources necessary to support affordable housing initiatives is vital to helping Ohioans have a safe, quality place to call home,” said Doug Garver, Executive Director of the Agency. “These initiatives will touch the lives of many through the creation and preservation of affordable housing throughout the state.”
The following are the eight proposals that will receive funding through the Housing Investment Fund:
- The City of Youngstown will receive a $200,000 grant to help redevelop its city-wide zoning code to focus on redevelopment, achieving stability, and encouraging the strategic redevelopment of vacant properties and affordable housing.
- CityWide Development Corporation will receive a $375,000 grant to provide loans for families that are unable to receive a loan through traditional lenders for health and safety repairs to their homes or those who need help purchasing a home that needs major repairs.
- The Corporation for Supportive Housing will receive an $800,000 grant and a $210,000 loan to assist in the creation of permanent supportive housing in Ohio through training opportunities, technical assistance, and predevelopment loans to sponsors.
- Enterprise Community Partners will receive a $100,000 grant for energy audits and a $500,000 loan to perform retrofits through the Ohio Green Communities Retrofit Fund to help multifamily developments achieve operating savings through energy efficiency.
- The Famicos Foundation will receive a $383,500 grant to make improvements to 83 lease-purchase homes helping residents prepare for homeownership in Cleveland, Ohio.
- Hocking Metropolitan Housing Authority will receive an $85,000 grant to provide at least 27 Individual Development Accounts for families in Athens, Hocking, Perry, and Vinton Counties that are not otherwise eligible for such programs that help with down payment and closing costs.
- Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing will receive a $920,000 grant to target roughly 7,500 households across the state for energy efficiency retrofits through the Ohio Affordable Housing Energy Conservation Initiative.
- The Ohio CDC Association will receive a $285,000 grant to provide 60 Individual Development Accounts in five lease-purchase housing credit developments to encourage tenant investment in their homes, provide case management services, and help with down payments when purchasing their homes.
Also at today’s meeting, the Board approved over $1.14 million from the Housing Development Assistance Program (HDAP) to fund affordable housing across the state. The developments receiving funding will serve Ohio families and mobility and/or sensory impaired residents.
- French Grant Apartments (Green Township, Scioto County) – The Community Action Organization of Scioto County, Inc. will receive a $700,000 HDAP (OHTF) loan to construct eight rental homes, two of which will be available for households with a mobility and/or sensory impaired resident.
- The Plains Mutual Self-Help Housing (The Plains, Athens County) – The Three Rivers Housing Corporation will receive a $440,500 HDAP (OHTF) loan to construct five single-family homes for low-income homebuyers who will receive a low-interest mortgage in return for assisting with the construction of the homes.
The HDAP is funded by the federal HOME Program, the Ohio Housing Trust Fund (OHTF), and the Financial Adjustment Factor (FAF).
For further information on the any of the approved funding, please contact OHFA at 1.888.362.6432. Information about OHFA is available at www.ohiohome.org.
OHFA utilizes federal and state resources to provide housing opportunities for families and individuals through programs designed to create, preserve, and manage affordable housing throughout the State of Ohio. The Agency is a self-supporting quasi-public agency governed by an eleven-member board, nine of whom are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. Two additional seats on the board, by statute, are reserved for the Director of Development and the Director of Commerce, or their designees, and both serve as ex officio voting members.
Media Contact: Erin Biehl, ebiehl (at) ohiohome (dot) org
614.387.2863 (office) or 614.307.3772 (cell)
