Charleston County committees review year of housing investments; council authorizes HUD Section 108 loan application

Charleston County Council committees on April 24 heard a detailed quarterly update on housing programs funded with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and local accommodation tax dollars, and approved staff requests to pursue several funding and program steps, including authorization to apply for HUD's Section 108 loan guarantee program.

The update, presented by county staff, described a multi-year set of actions the council backed — a $20,000,000 ARPA allocation for a gap- and infill-financing program; purchases of 18 homes from the Charleston County Housing and Redevelopment Authority to preserve affordability; expanded critical home repair funding; a new disaster assistance program; and pilot land-acquisition grants. "There are 72 slides. I'm sure y'all are excited," one presenter said by way of opening, then reviewed year-by-year decisions that led to current projects and awards.

The report said the county's critical home repair program has helped 256 households to date and that the county intends to spend the remainder of the most recent allocation by Dec. 31. Louella Smalls, Community Development and Revitalization Director, said the county has $928,000 available through a new Disaster Assistance Program to repair homes damaged by extreme weather; at a maximum repair cap of $30,000 per home, staff estimated the program could serve roughly 30–40 houses and requested targeted outreach in Adams Run, Hollywood, St. Paul, Johns Island and Edisto Island.

The update also covered preservation and production work: the Charleston Homes initiative (18 purchased units) has completed several renovations and occupancy agreements; gap and infill financing funded by ARPA and HOME/HUD awards has produced both rental and ownership projects (staff reported awards and construction at sites including Archer School Apartments, Esau Jenkins and 180 Place); and the county's land-acquisition pilot has made multiple…