Nashville will receive $5 million from the White House and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to remove barriers to affordable housing production and preservation by creating a Faith Based Development Institute. Metro Nashville will also use the funds to bolster its Affordable Housing Finance Program, create and preserve new permanent supportive housing units, and accelerate development capacity with emerging partners.
Nashville is one of just 21 communities nationwide out of more than 175 applicants to receive the funding award from HUD’s new Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing) program, which assists with lowering housing costs. On Thursday, Mayor Freddie O’Connell announced that a portion of these funds will support the new Faith Based Development Institute and facilitate affordable housing development on land owned by faith-based organizations.
“As the cost of land increases, it becomes even more challenging to create affordable housing units, and our faith community, which owns nearly 4,000 acres of land across the county, represents a significant opportunity to partner together to create affordable housing options,” Mayor O’Connell said. “We appreciate the support of our federal partners whose funding will help us add another set of tools to our toolkit to support the creation of more affordable homes across Nashville and address one of the greatest cost of living challenges we face.”
Claudette Fernandez, the ‘general deputy assistant secretary’ for Community Planning and Development from HUD, presented a check to Nashville on the 50th anniversary of the Community Development Block Grant Program.
“This funding will build upon the impressive work Nashville and Davidson County have already done to increase housing supply, adopt bold policy strategies, and greater partnership with citizens, developers, and the private sector,” she said.
A report prepared by Think Tennessee and the Urban Institute identified approximately 1,600 parcels (3,491 acres) of land geographically dispersed across Davidson County owned by faith-based institutions. More than half of the acres (57%) are undeveloped and could be used for housing.
“We are grateful to HUD for selecting Nashville to be one of the PRO Housing Grant recipients, which is the first Federal Grant Metro’s Housing Division has received,” said Angela Hubbard, Metro Housing Director. “This funding will help our community unlock additional innovative tools to create and preserve much-needed affordable housing.”
The PRO Housing program is the latest success in Metro’s work to increase housing stock and make Nashville a more affordable city.
