Hot Springs seeks another $750,000 Paul Bruhn grant to rehabilitate historic properties into affordable housing

City planning staff asked the Board of Directors to authorize annual filing for the National Park Service Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grant and described how the city would use additional funding to support rehabilitation of historic buildings into affordable housing. Planning and Development Director Kathy Selman said the city received $750,000 under the Paul Bruhn program in 2024 to support projects that rehabilitate National Register-listed properties into affordable housing. Selman told the board the Hot Springs housing strategy documents 4,000 vacant structures in the city and estimates a need for 5,000 additional housing units. For the current grant cycle the city received 12 applications; staff had not completed evaluations at the agenda meeting. Selman said eight of the applications target the Central Avenue Historic District or the Pleasant Street Historic District. The city's 2024 resolution designated those two local historic districts as target areas for grant funds. Selman said the grant is a zero-match grant and the city plans to apply for another $750,000 and to run a competitive local subgrant program similar to the prior year if funded. Selman also said, if future rounds are funded, the program could expand to help qualified homeowners (income eligibility up to $87,750 for a four-person household) finance repairs to historic homes. Selman said a small group of staff and the chair of the Historic District Commission will use a rubric supplied to the funding agency to rate and rank applications and then recommend an ordered list of awards to the board. The board's approval will be required to finalize awards. No board vote on the new application authorization was recorded during the agenda meeting; the item was placed on the Sept. 2 agenda for formal action.