AUSTIN — Today Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush announced the kick-off of the application process for nearly $40 million in available Community Development Block Grants for Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) to help rehabilitate and reconstruct multifamily rental homes damaged by severe flooding in 2018 and 2019 as well as Tropical Storm Imelda. Projects in eleven counties in South Texas and the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Southeast Texas are eligible to apply.

“Southeast and South Texas endured multiple significant rain events while still recovering from previous floods, including Hurricane Harvey,” said Commissioner Bush. “The GLO is honored to kick off this program to restore affordable housing and ensure low income citizens and families have a safe, habitable, and affordable place to live."

The GLO will host pre-proposal virtual workshops for eligible applicants interested in applying at 10 a.m. every Tuesday and Thursday for the first three weeks of the application period starting May 6, 2021. Additional workshop information can be found on recovery.texas.gov. The 60-day application submission period will begin on May 1, 2021. Applicants will be chosen via a competitive points-based system. The GLO anticipates announcing awards in late summer.

2018/2019 Affordable Rental Program information:

• $39.61 million allocation managed by the GLO to reimburse eligible hard construction costs for the rehabilitation, reconstruction, and new construction of affordable multifamily housing developments. Details on the division of funding by allocation are available in the 2019 State Action Plan Summary and the 2018 State Action Plan Summary.
• The counties eligible for funding are Cameron, Chambers, Harris, Hidalgo, Jefferson, Jim Wells, Liberty, Montgomery, Orange, San Jacinto and Willacy.
• Developments must meet affordability requirements for 20 years after completion of new construction and 15 years after completion of repairs to ensure low income citizens and families of Texas have a safe, decent, and affordable place to live.
• Public or privately owned multifamily structures and scattered sites with 8 units or more are eligible.
• At a minimum, 51% of the units must target residents with income levels at 80% or less of the area median income.
• The allocation maximum is $5,000,000 per award.
• Application acceptance period: May 1, 2021 – June 30, 2021.
• Project construction must be completed within 18 months of the effective date of the contract.

The applications and more information can be found at recovery.texas.gov/arp. All applications must be emailed to arp@recovery.texas.gov by 5 p.m. on June 30, 2021.