<
https://apnews.com/article/biden-office-conversion-affordable-housing-e1ff0306f4ea1ae3913d7bf6cb3eaef1>
"WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is launching a multi-agency effort
to encourage states and cities to convert more empty office buildings into
housing units, with billions of federal dollars available to help spur such
transitions.
The new initiative, announced Friday morning, involves the departments of
Housing and Urban Development and Transportation, along with the General
Services Administration and the Office of Management and Budget in a
multi-pronged effort to address both the national shortage of affordable
housing and the post-pandemic surplus of vacant office buildings.
“This presents an area of opportunity to both increase housing supply while
revitalizing main streets. It’s a win-win,” said Lael Brainard, director of the
National Economic Council. “We’re utilizing resources from across the
government.”
Several of the new measures will be designed to specifically encourage the
creation of new affordable housing units near transportation hubs like bus
terminals and subway stations. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said
his department will issue new guidance to states and municipalities on how to
access funding through a pair of federal programs — the Transportation
Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act and Railroad Rehabilitation &
Improvement Financing.
Buttigieg said that “over $35 billion in lending capacity” will be made
available to provide below-market rate loans to finance both new housing
construction and office conversions near transportation hubs.
“These downtowns and central business districts .. are already designed and
oriented around public transit,” Buttigieg said. “Our intention is to make the
most of this opportunity to add more housing near transit in ways that not only
reduce the cost of housing but also reduce the cost of transportation.”
The Department of Transportation is also releasing new guidance to make it
easier for transit agencies to transfer unused properties or buildings to local
governments or nonprofit organizations for conversion into affordable housing.
Buttigieg said buildings “like an underutilized storage facility” could also be
transferred to private developers at below-market prices, provided that those
developers commit to including a negotiated percentage of affordable housing
units.
In addition, the GSA will work with the Office of Management and Budget to
identify surplus federal properties that could similarly be transferred for
development into affordable housing units."
Via
The Fixer November 1, 2023:
<
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/office-buildings-affordable-housing-conversion/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
