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Gainesville wins DCA workforce housing grant to fund stormwater work and expand affordable housing
Summary
Gainesville officials said the city received a workforce housing grant from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, reported in the meeting as about $2.5 million, to fund stormwater infrastructure on city-owned land in a floodplain to enable roughly 20 affordable houses and a public–private partnership expected to add more than 60 residences.
Gainesville Mayor Sam Couvillon announced at the June 18 mayor and council meeting that the city was awarded a workforce housing grant from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs that the mayor described in the transcript as "2 and a half $1,000,000." The grant will pay for stormwater infrastructure on a city-owned parcel in a floodplain to make the site buildable for affordable housing.
The mayor said the city has already built about 15 houses in prior efforts and that this funding will "almost double our inventory," estimating "close to 20 houses in this area." He also said a public–private partnership tied to the work would add "north of 60 homes." "We were recently awarded a 2 and a half $1,000,000 grant from the Department of Community Affairs," Couvillon said during the meeting.
City Manager Brian Lackey and staff were credited in council remarks for preparing the grant application. Couvillon and council members framed the grant as targeted infrastructure funding that will address flooding at the site and thus enable development of affordable housing units there.
Council did not vote on the grant during the June 18 meeting; the announcement was presented as part of council updates and project rollout. Officials said staff would continue planning and that further steps, including project design and permitting, will follow. Jessica Tuller was named by the mayor as part of the team leading the housing effort.
What happens next: officials said the grant will fund the stormwater work needed to make the city-owned parcel buildable; project sequencing, construction timing and partner roles were not specified in the discussion and will be decided in follow-up meetings and project documents.
Provenance: Mayor Sam Couvillon read the award and project intent aloud at the June 18 meeting; the statement "we were recently awarded a 2 and a half $1,000,000 grant from the Department of Community Affairs" appears in the transcript and was the basis for this report.
