Bill to fund predevelopment grants and loans draws broad support from faith groups and nonprofits

House Bill 29,664 with the dash-3 amendment, which replaces the base measure, received extensive public testimony on March 19 in the House Committee on Housing and Homelessness. The bill would establish a temporary OHCS-administered program to cover predevelopment costs — defined as professional services, studies, fees and community engagement — for new affordable housing projects and would authorize the department to award grants in addition to loans. The dash-3 amendment explicitly adds limited-equity cooperatives as eligible purposes and aims to make the predevelopment fund workable for small nonprofits, faith organizations and community landowners that lack capital for feasibility work.

Sponsor Representative Mark Gamba framed the bill as a way to unlock thousands of acres of land already inside urban growth boundaries — often owned by churches, nonprofits and other mission-driven entities — that could be suitable for affordable housing if up-front feasibility barriers could be funded. "These lands tend to…