Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Housing Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Housing department outlines gap financing, preservation and plans for a revolving loan fund
Summary
Richmond’s Director of Housing and Community Development told the committee the city has leveraged public funds into larger private investment for affordable housing, highlighted preservation work funded with ARPA and federal entitlement dollars, and said staff are developing alternative financing including a proposed revolving loan fund.
Merrick Malone, Director of Housing and Community Development, told the Land Use Committee that Richmond’s housing programs rely on "intentional" public subsidy to create affordability and that the city has used performance grants, tax‑exempt bond programs and federal entitlement funds to leverage private capital.
"I always tell people that affordable housing, there's no such thing as a an affordable brick or a market rate brick," Malone said, explaining that the city’s contribution fills financing gaps needed to make lower‑income projects viable. Malone described a portfolio of tools including performance grants that the city says have generated a pipeline of projects with roughly 390 units at 0–50% AMI and 2,424 units at 50–80% AMI in development pipelines described to the committee.
Malone described preservation activity funded with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars and federal entitlement funds, including a Healthy Homes program that provided repairs averaging $26,000–$30,000 per household to enable long‑time homeowners to remain in place. He noted ARPA deadlines require obligated funds to be completed by late 2026 and emphasized the need to identify replacement funding after ARPA.
The department is piloting and planning a $10 million tax‑exempt bond program for equitable affordable rental housing and is exploring a revolving loan fund model similar to those in other jurisdictions to provide opportunistic gap financing for projects that cannot otherwise be financed through tax credit allocations and private lending. Malone told members the city has recently issued a $13 million NOFA and received requests that exceed available funds, indicating demand outstrips supply.
Committee members asked for a clearer public accounting of city dollars versus total development cost and asked staff to provide a single chart listing units produced, city investment, private leverage and AMI served. Malone agreed to provide the requested breakdown to the committee.
