This program is designed to promote the new construction of affordable single-family for sale and both single-family and multi-family rental housing units. These units will be newly constructed on vacant lots or greenfield areas or will entail the conversion of non-residential spaces into new housing within existing neighborhoods.

The State will make awards based on project applications and is anticipating the creation of approximately 300 new housing units over the life of both the rental and for-sale programs. IEDA will make awards to projects that offer a variety of housing sizes in order to best serve a variety of household types, including seniors, persons with disabilities, and households with children.

Eligible applicants are units of general local government (cities, counties, and tribes) as identified in the Most Impacted & Distressed (MID) areas identified in the State of Iowa 2020 CDBG-DR Action Plan. These areas are Linn County (HUD MID Area) and Marshall, Tama, and Benton counties (State MID area).

IEDA will open a competitive round in this funding opportunity. $20 million will be available for for-sale housing and $18.5 million will be available for rental housing. An additional $6,187,700 will be available for infrastructure in support of housing. At least 80% of these funds are available to Linn County while at most 20% is available to Marshall, Tama, and Benton counties. IEDA reserves the right to reallocate funds between the for-sale, rental, and infrastructure in support of housing programs if need surpasses demand. If requests do not expend all available funding, future rounds will be established at no less than one round per year until all funds are expended.

All awarded projects will be required to complete an environmental review in accordance with the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) and HUD regulations and, at minimum, a Phase 1 Archaeological Survey if not a conversion project. All projects will be required to comply with Section 3 of the Housing and Community Development Act. All projects incorporating 8 or more units will be required to comply with Davis Bacon prevailing wages and all infrastructure in support of housing is required to comply with Davis Bacon. All projects will be subject to affordability periods based on project size. All projects are required to comply with the baseline requirements of the Iowa Green Streets Criteria and incorporate an energy efficiency standard (ENERGY Star, Zero Energy Ready Homes, etc.).

To view all compliance requirements and more detailed program descriptions, see the program guidelines at the following link: https://www.iowaeda.com/disaster-recovery/cdbg-derecho/