Posted on 10/30/2023 2:56:41 PM PDT by EBH
New resources will encourage zero emissions conversions and transit-oriented development that increase housing supply and cut climate pollution
Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing new actions to support the conversion of high-vacancy commercial buildings to residential use, including through new financing, technical assistance, and sale of federal properties. These announcements will create much-needed housing that is affordable, energy efficient, near transit and good jobs, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, nearly 30 percent of which comes from the building sector.
Office and commercial vacancies across the country are affecting urban downtowns and rural main streets. A new blog released today by the Council of Economic Advisers finds that office vacancies have reached a 30-year high from coast-to-coast, placing a strain on commercial real estate and local economies. At the same time, the country has struggled for decades with a shortage of affordable housing units, which is driving up rental costs, and communities are seeking new ways to cut emissions, especially from existing buildings and transportation.
The actions announced today build upon the initiatives in the White House Housing Supply Action Plan, which is lowering housing costs, boosting housing supply, and promoting fair housing, and the Administration’s actions to lower energy costs and tackle the climate crisis. Lowering costs, increasing access to good jobs, and building the clean energy economy are key tenants of Bidenomics — the President’s agenda to grow the economy from the middle out and the bottom up. Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing the following actions:
Sparking Investment through New Federal Funding and Repurposing Property
The Department of Transportation (DOT) is releasing new guidance to states, localities, and developers on how the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) and Railroad Rehabilitation & Improvement Financing (RRIF) programs – which combined have over $35 billion in available lending capacity for transit-oriented development projects at below market interest rates, can be used to finance housing development near transportation, including conversion projects. In addition, DOT released a policy statement with principles for pursuing transportation projects with the dual goals of increasing affordable housing supply and decreasing emissions. By making low-cost financing available for conversions and housing projects near public transportation, this guidance and policy statement will increase housing supply, while encouraging state and local governments to improve their zoning, land use, and transit-oriented development policies. DOT is releasing guidance that makes it easier for transit agencies to repurpose properties for transit-oriented development and affordable housing projects, including conversions near transit. Under the new guidance, transit agencies may transfer properties to local governments, non-profit, and for-profit developers of affordable housing at no cost. The new policy has the potential to turn property no longer needed for transit into affordable housing development particularly when combined with loans from TIFIA or RRIF programs. HUD is releasing an updated notice on how the Community Development Block Grant fund, $10 billion of which have been allocated during this Administration, can be used to boost housing supply – including the acquisition, rehabilitation, and conversion of commercial properties to residential uses and mixed-use development. HUD is also increasing outreach efforts to support municipalities and developers seeking to use HUD tools to finance conversions. States and localities can also access up to five times their annual CDBG allocation in low-cost loan guarantees to fund projects such as the conversion of properties to housing or mixed-use development. In addition, HUD will make awards through a research-related Notice of Funding Opportunity, which can be used to develop case studies that can serve as roadmaps for other localities interested in pursuing conversions. HUD is also accepting applications for the $85 million Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing program, which includes the development of adaptive reuse strategies and the financing of conversions as eligible activities. The General Services Administration (GSA) will expand on its Good Neighbor Program to promote the sale of surplus federal properties that buyers could potentially redevelop for residential use. To support this initiative, GSA will work with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to identify current and upcoming sale opportunities, maintain a public list of current opportunities, and affirmatively market resources available to support housing development in all targeted materials for applicable properties. Leveraging Federal Funding to Encourage Conversions
The White House is releasing a Commercial to Residential Federal Resources Guidebook with over 20 federal programs across six federal agencies that can be used to support conversions. These programs include low-interest loans, loan guarantees, grants, and tax incentives, which, subject to the requirements of each program, may be used together to increase the economic viability of conversion projects. To accompany the guidebook the White House is announcing training workshops this fall for local and state governments, real estate developers, owners, builders, and lenders on how to use federal programs for commercial to residential conversions and achieve additional goals including affordability and building zero emissions housing. DOT will be announcing new technical assistance through direct engagement with federal agencies and third-party intermediaries to support municipalities and developers seeking to use DOT tools to finance conversions. Through the Better Buildings Initiative, DOE also launched a commercial to zero emissions housing toolkit that includes technical and financial guidance on how to achieve zero emissions commercial to residential conversions. DOE’s toolkit highlights how the Inflation Reduction Act can bring more capital to conversions through the DOE Loan Program Office’s loans and guarantee programs and tax incentives, such as the new energy efficient home tax credit (45L), the energy efficient commercial buildings tax deduction (179D), and the clean energy investment tax credit (48). And today, Treasury is posting a blog that describes tax incentives for builders of multifamily housing. Through the Inflation Reduction Act, several tax incentives may support eligible builders of multifamily housing to lower the investment costs associated with energy efficiency upgrades, clean electricity generation projects, or even the new or substantial reconstruction and rehabilitation of homes meeting certain Energy Star or Zero Energy Ready Home Program energy efficiency standards. Working with States, Localities, and the Private Sector to Take Action A number of states and localities have taken steps to address the challenge of high commercial and office building vacancies in their downtowns. As new research from HUD shows, developers commonly use combinations of federal, state and local resources on individual conversion projects. The White House is encouraging all state, local, tribal, and territorial entities to identify all available public tools and land disposition opportunities to facilitate conversions. The White House encourages the private sector, including non-profit organizations and other stakeholders, to engage in capacity building around conversions in support of this effort today:
The National Association of Counties (NACo) is expanding its focus to support county capacity to convert commercial properties to residential use, including by leveraging available federal programs and technical assistance efforts. NACo will identify counties who are actively pursuing projects to participate and will hold a series of listening and informational sessions, culminating in a policy paper for county officials interested in pursuing commercial to residential conversion projects. The American Planning Association, in collaboration with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and Harvard University Graduate School of Design, is expanding its existing work with the planning directors of the 30 largest U.S. cities to include new programs on commercial to residential conversions, with the first meeting already having occurred in October.
How much land does the government own out west? Now they are taking over commercial real estate in major cities?
Odd...Stalin comes to mind.
Feds should be forced to auction 95% of their holdings.
LOL.
Idiots.
The cost and complications of converting Commercial Office plumbing to Residential, Family plumbing is mind boggling.
Oh, I forgot! The goal is to bankrupt America.
This is done to benefit illegals. Free money and housing, just so long as you aren’t a U. S. citizen.
And they don’t recognize that living in commercial use building is a primer for disaster?
Who, exactly is behind such stupidity?
Cabrini Green New Deal
They are diabolically brilliant actually because they’ve already aligned themselves with the eventuality that it be a complete disaster. Some how, some way, they will profit on this country becoming a smoldering garbage heap. It’s part of the socialist plan and investment portfolio.
And it will be scooped by the same foreigners who are buying up the properties and pricing out Americans.
Not really. You can set up cots and micro-kitchens where the office space is, and the bathrooms can become communal. You can attach a hand-held shower to the sink faucet and there's your shower. It makes sense if they're putting the illegals in there, and the illegals won't care because it's better living than the craphole they fled from.
You wouldn't have to really tear down anything other than close office walls to make more room.
Don’t forget the lead-based paint and asbestos insulation in the older buildings.
With a good chunk of federal workers working at home, some government office buildings are 80% vacant (there was a story the other day) ...
The cost to renovate is high, the buildings worked economically as commercial until the pandemic, now they Don’t and some one will eat the loss. Save pollution, WTF? Mass Transit, that does not work with the high crime and oh how’s that High speed train coming California? This is to bail out lenders and commercial building owners, that’s the plan......
This will end up being nothing more than a bailout for commercial property owners.
10% for the Big Guy.
Housing for the illegal immigrant Chinese/Venezuelan/Guatamalan/Nicaraguan/Afghan/Iranian/Nigerian/Honduran military men, cartel, and gangs.
With all of the retail stores shutting down due to theft and robbery, this could help them to avoid bankruptcy.
Developers say conversions can be completed more quickly than new construction at costs up to 20 percent cheaper than demolish-and-rebuild projects.
Several existing federal programs already support commercial-to-residential conversions, and the Biden-Harris Administration aims to further facilitate commercial-to-residential conversions through new actions announced today through its Housing Supply and Action Plan. The Community Development Block Grant, which provides $3 billion annually to support community housing and revitalization projects for low- and moderate-income families, and new actions make it easier to use these funds for acquisition, pre-development and construction associated with conversions. This compliments other actions like HUD’s recently announced $860,000 in grant funds to study office-to-residential conversions undertaken since the pandemic. Similarly, new DOT policies unlock $35 billion in available lending capacity for development projects at below market interest rates, which will make conversions easier to finance.
The announcement today also catalogues the broad set of federal tools that can be used for conversions. This includes the Historic Tax Credit, which has supported more than 47,000 properties and created more than 150,000 low- and moderate-income housing units since its inception. New opportunities will continue to arise.
You're thinking in terms that the government will actually create 1 or 2 bedroom apartment units in commercial buildings.
They will do no such thing.
All they have to do is make minor renovations such as getting rid of the individual office units or spaces. If the people need privacy, they can put up cubicles (which may be already there) or install room dividers.
We have 30 million welfare recipients in this country that could be deported to their home countries along with their children.
No way would anyone want to live in a government affordable housing...they are a crime ridden trash heap now. Imagine after these conversions are done?
Be like those apartment cages in Hong Kong? https://youtu.be/hLrFyjGZ9NU?si=JwWf9AWbgVxvev5X
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