Aurora staff outline housing strategy progress and timeline for five-year Consolidated Plan

Sarah Pulliam, Aurora’s manager of community development, briefed a city committee on the municipal housing strategy and the city’s draft five-year Consolidated Plan during an informational presentation.

Pulliam said the strategy, adopted in 2020, aims to expand the city’s affordable housing inventory and strengthen the local economy. “We found that we have about a 7,500 deficit in affordable housing units,” Pulliam said, citing 2019 HUD data used in the strategy’s assessment.

The update listed achievements from 2024 and recent years, program statistics, and next steps. Pulliam said the city increased its housing-unit pipeline, advanced land-banking activity and expanded counseling and repair programs. She told the committee the city purchased a parcel at 1455 Emporia Street and plans to issue a request for proposals for that site in 2025.

Pulliam summarized HUD-related funding that will shape the Consolidated Plan. She said Aurora is an entitlement jurisdiction that receives annual allocations of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) and the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG). “We are what’s called an entitlement community, and that means that we have an allocation every year,” Pulliam said, adding that the city must prepare an annual action plan and complete community engagement, budgeting and HUD performance reporting to receive funds.

She outlined program and eligibility differences among the grants: CDBG is the most flexible but must meet a national objective tied to low- and moderate-income benefit or urgent conditions; HOME funds must be used for housing activities and require a 15% set-aside for Community Housing Development Organizations (CHDOs); and ESG is the smallest and most restricted, limited to programs preventing or addressing homelessness and delivered through nonprofit providers.

Pulliam gave several program results: the emergency mortgage assistance program received 150 applications and provided assistance to 96 applicants with about $1,600,000 in funds; the city’s counseling efforts included 45 reverse-mortgage counseling sessions, 13 pre-purchase counseling sessions, 11 foreclosure-prevention sessions and 347 participants in first-time homebuyer education; community investment financing attracted 13 applications, of which eight were funded to create 339 units representing approximately $29,600,000 of investment. Pulliam also said the city received two HUD counseling grants for 2023 and 2024 and has retained a consultant to complete an Analysis of Impediments, the five-year Consolidated Plan and the 2025 annual action plan.

Committee members questioned the stability of federal funding. One council member asked whether the city can “guarantee this federal funding” given possible administration-level budget changes. Pulliam replied, “You’re correct. We are currently being very proactive, in case those funds are cut. We have been working with finance, looking at how far we can go on cash flow, given the current administration potentially freezing funds and or cutting the funds completely.” She also said the housing strategy is intended to be a “living document” that will be broad and flexible—covering economic development, housing and infrastructure priorities—to adapt if funding priorities shift.

Pulliam explained the Consolidated Plan schedule the consultant will follow: public outreach (surveys, focus groups, stakeholder interviews) in March–May, a 30-day public comment period, a public hearing at the Citizens Advisory Committee on Housing and Community Development, and a target submission to HUD in August 2025 (the presenter said the city has an August 15 deadline). Pulliam noted the city is planning the 2025 annual action plan assuming level funding based on 2024 allocations: roughly $2,600,000 in CDBG, $1,000,000 in HOME and $230,000 in ESG.

Committee members and staff confirmed the presentation was informational only and that no formal action was requested at this meeting. Staff invited public comment and listed contact information for the Community Development Division for residents to submit input. The committee noted the next committee meeting is scheduled for March 19 at 8:30 a.m.; staff said agenda items for that meeting are draft and will be set with the chair.

The presentation highlighted program outputs and funding rules that will shape the Consolidated Plan, and staff said subsequent public engagement and the consultant’s draft will provide more detail for council review before HUD submission.