Gwinnett County’s new housing division is proposing to spend $18 million in leftover COVID-19 relief grant funding to make a dent in the county’s affordability crisis.
The money could go toward incentives for private sector affordable housing projects, said Matt Elder, director of the county’s Housing and Community Development Division. The county’s finance and planning departments are working to finalize the reallocation of funds, a county spokeswoman said.
The county already has $11 million invested in affordable housing projects from other funding sources, Elder recently told commissioners in a briefing. That money is creating 376 affordable units — 86 for ownership and 290 for rent — in the coming years, Elder said. Nearly half of the units are being produced for families who are at or below 80% of the area median income, per federal statistics.
Reallocating unspent money from American Rescue Plan Act grants would reserve it for families at or below 65% of area median income, Elder said.
“We’d be able to further diversify and offer additional housing choice for our lower-income households,” he said.
The median family income for the Atlanta metro area is $102,900, according to Fannie Mae. Income limits for affordable housing also vary by family size.
The county could use the money to subsidize developers for new construction; to preserve existing affordable housing; or to convert market-rate housing or non-residential buildings into affordable housing.
Gwinnett could also spend up to $9.7 million of the reallocated funds to acquire land directly for affordable housing, especially if the county does not receive enough requests for incentives, Elder said.
The county would acquire land in strategic locations after an evaluation process that looks at economic opportunity, walkability, transit access and proximity to parks, libraries, and grocery stores, among other criteria. Land would also be evaluated based on an estimate of the number of units that could be developed, Elder said. Developers would bid to build the units, he said.
Elder said the county was considering entitling the land for affordable housing so it would not have to go through the rezoning process, which often means public hearings with opposition.
“That’s really going to help get units on the market quick and then make our life easier,” District 1 Commissioner Kirkland Carden said.
As rents and home prices skyrocketed, a countywide study last year predicted that, unless solutions are enacted, 76% of housing demand in Gwinnett will go unmet annually through 2040 and only 2% of households earning $50,000 or less will be able to find new or replacement housing in that time.
Gwinnett County received nearly $182 million from ARPA. The money must be spent by 2026.
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