“A bill to establish a pilot program to convert blighted buildings into housing.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section establishes the Blighted Building to Housing Conversion Pilot Program, under which, for FY2027 through FY2031, if amounts available for the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (i.e., block grants to states and participating jurisdictions for affordable housing and community development) exceed $1.35 billion, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) may use up to $100 million of such excess amounts to award competitive grants to eligible entities (i.e., HOME participating jurisdictions). Grants are $1 million to $10 million each if $100 million is available that year (otherwise sized to maximize awards); are in addition to, and do not affect, a recipient's HOME formula allocation; prioritize economically distressed communities, qualified opportunity zones, needs identified in consolidated plans, or jurisdictions with ordinances reducing non-safety regulatory barriers to commercial-to-housing conversions; and may fund property acquisition, demolition, health hazard remediation, site preparation, construction/renovation/rehabilitation, or community land trusts to create attainable housing (i.e., serving households at or below 100% or 120% of area median income, with a majority of units affordable to those at or below 80% or 60%, respectively) from vacant/abandoned commercial/industrial buildings. Converted units are subject to HOME requirements for rental, sale, and resale; HUD may waive non-core statutory or regulatory requirements with a public good-cause finding; and HUD must report to Congress within 180 days after program termination on impacts to local tax bases, affordable housing access (especially for elderly, disabled, and veterans), homeownership, and blight removal.