Latest news with #GreenandResilientRetrofitProgram
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Beacon Communities' May Building renovation back on track after federal grant approval
After a challenge by a new administration put a major downtown renovation project into doubt and delay, Beacon Communities expects now to move forward on a package of loans in order to refurbish its May Building property downtown. 'Those deals are moving ahead,' said Michael Polite, a senior vice president for Boston-based Beacon Communities. 'We are moving as fast as we can to get our deals to closing.' Beacon's on-again-off-again saga with its property at 111 Fifth Avenue in the Cultural District downtown began in late 2023 when the company was among the first awarded grant funding through the U.S, Department of Housing and Urban Development for a new program called the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program established through the Inflation Reduction Act. The development firm was awarded a $5.1 million grant to be used to help make the building more energy efficient and sustainable, a strategy expected to include new windows and building mechanicals and HVAC on a nationally registered building located within the Penn-Liberty Historic District downtown. Click here to read more from our partners at the Pittsburgh Business Times. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
DOGE cancels nearly $4 million in federal funds meant to rehab affordable apartments
Senator Tina Smith speaks at a press conference at Vista Village, an affordable housing complex in St. Paul, Monday, April 14, 2025. The complex was set to receive a $3.8 million federal grant for maintenance and repairs, but the funding was permanently frozen. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer) At Vista Village apartments in St. Paul, residents of the affordable complex reported faulty furnaces and ice building up inside of their windows on cold days. Parts of the floor were water-damaged, and after more than 50 years of housing low-income residents, wear and tear on the building was becoming impossible to ignore. In October, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban development gave the building's nonprofit owner a $3.8 million grant to pay for needed repairs and upgrades, including a new heating system and windows. But the money never came through because the Trump administration has 'permanently frozen' the funds, CommonBond Communities president and CEO Deidre Schmidt said Monday. The grant money came from HUD's Green and Resilient Retrofit Program, which provided grants and loans to finance energy efficiency upgrades at affordable housing developments nationwide. Vista Village was the only Minnesota-based project to receive an award through the competitive program. Congress authorized $1 billion for the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program in 2022 as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. In March, the Associated Press reported that the program was being 'terminated' at the direction of DOGE. Communication about the 'permanent freeze' has been confusing and contradictory, said Sen. Tina Smith, who joined Schmidt and St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter for a press conference at Vista Village Monday. Elon Musk, the world's richest man and a close advisor to President Donald Trump, has directed federal agencies to cancel funding related to climate change mitigation. 'What's going on here is actually a massive power grab, and a big money grab, because their plan is to scoop up all of this money and then use it so that they can pay for the tax cuts that they have planned for really wealthy individuals and big corporations,' Smith said. Vista Village resident Lisa Bennett, a nurse who has lived at the building for nearly seven years, said the repairs to the complex are needed. 'We're not asking for no hardwood floors. We don't want no stainless steel appliances. We don't want no recessed lighting — just for that grant to come through so that we can get our building together,' Bennett said.
Chicago Tribune
26-03-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Illinois affordable housing projects on pause as Trump administration evaluates funds
Some renovation projects aimed at preserving and greening existing affordable housing properties are on hold in Chicago as the Trump administration evaluates a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development program. Archer Courts in Chinatown, a 146-unit apartment building, was awarded over $11.7 million in federal funds for green energy fixes at an event a year ago with notable political officials, including then-acting HUD Secretary Adrianne Todman, HUD's then-Midwest Director Jim Cunningham, Mayor Brandon Johnson and Chicago Department of Housing Commissioner Lissette Castañeda. Now, the redevelopment is in jeopardy. 'It's very likely that on this particular project, we will not be able to make any additional investments in the property beyond what we have already made,' without the HUD grant, said Lauren Zullo, managing director of impact for New York-based developer Jonathan Rose Companies. The more than $1 billion national program, known as the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program, is funded through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act and provides developers with one piece of the complex and expensive capital stack required to complete affordable housing projects. The Associated Press first reported the threat to the national HUD program. About 270 projects were awarded funds, with at least 15 of these projects in Illinois — in various stages of development. The Illinois developments are slated to receive over $52.5 million, with some still forging ahead. 'The previous administration's energy efficiency crusade diverted valuable resources, including funding, from the department's mission,' said Kasey Lovett, a HUD spokesperson, in a statement to the Tribune. 'The department is evaluating options to ensure rural, tribal and urban communities have the resources they need, which are not solar panels.' HUD did not answer the Tribune's specific questions about the program. The news comes as the city and country are grappling with how to address a severe shortage of affordable housing as housing costs have skyrocketed in recent years and could potentially increase more with President Donald Trump's recently imposed and anticipated tariffs. The redevelopment projects aided by HUD dollars would help extend the lifetime of hundreds of affordable housing units in Illinois. HUD is also undergoing scrutiny in other areas and faces cuts from billionaire Tesla owner Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency and Trump in the Midwest region and at the national level. Eight Chicago-based U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development staffers with more than 180 years of service collectively have retired or are retiring later this year as the agency undergoes scrutiny. At least 20 local HUD workers lost their jobs or received layoff notices last month; some of these employees have since been placed on administrative leave following court orders. A dozen of these employees work in the local HUD Office of Field Policy and Management, which will wipe out the entire local department, apart from managers. Chicago-area housing organizations are also facing funding cuts from HUD, with some recently receiving termination notices for grants while others are in limbo as they wait for overdue contracts or to see what happens with expected awards. (A judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from terminating the grants in a ruling Tuesday.) The renovation at Archer Courts was to be aided by a HUD-hired consultant who was conducting studies to create development plans. That consultant's contract has now been terminated, Zullo said, and her company does not have a way to move forward on the project without that assistance. The work would include updates to aging building heating and hot water systems. And, Zullo said, the loss of this rehab project would also mean the loss of local jobs and disappointment for the building's residents. A Chicago Department of Housing spokesperson said in a statement to the Tribune that it has 'several critical projects in its pipeline that are currently dependent on these funds.' 'While we are reviewing the impact of HUD's actions, it is is deeply disappointing that our residents could be the ones most impacted,' the statement said. Brainerd Senior Center, a 60-unit, $14.5 million rehab project on the Far South Side aimed at decarbonization, was awarded a $750,000 HUD loan. It is in the 'group of a lucky few' that are more likely to receive their funding because the deal has already closed and construction has started, said Lindsey Haines, executive vice president of real estate development at Full Circle Communities, a Chicago-based nonprofit affordable housing developer. Haines said her group is still 'very nervous' about receiving the funds and has not heard anything directly from HUD. 'Any funding we need to put out the door to fill in a gap from funding we were counting on puts our ability to do our core mission at risk,' Haines said. The Preservation of Affordable Housing, a national housing developer, has three projects in Chicago in various stages of redevelopment that were awarded HUD funds. The $117 million rehab for the 240-unit Island Terrace Apartments in the Woodlawn neighborhood — whose HUD grant was put toward upgrading to a more energy efficient heating system — is completed and POAH has requested reimbursement for the $750,000 grant from HUD, said Bill Eager, senior vice president of real estate development for the Midwest region of POAH and who is based in Chicago. Eager said his company is going through the normal requisition process and has not yet heard from HUD. 'We are hopeful that money will come through,' Eager said. The other two projects, Corcoran Place and Austin Renaissance, both in the Austin neighborhood and awarded funds of about $5.6 million each, are on hold as the developer awaits word from HUD, Eager said. The New York Times first reported the Corcoran Place project's status. Corcoran Place, a 94-unit apartment building for older adults, is supposed to receive green upgrades, including an improved HVAC system, under its $39.5 million renovation. The deal was expected to close in a couple of months, Eager said. Austin Renaissance, a 71-unit complex for families, is still in the early stages of its $33.9 million redevelopment plans. Eager said that while the GRRP funds are for energy retrofits, the dollars 'unlocked an ability to do a substantial rehab' to 'improve the quality of life' for residents at properties like Corcoran Place and Austin Renaissance. 'Yes, we don't want to lose our deals, but this stuff really affects people's everyday lives,' Eager said. 'We may not be able to preserve and revitalize these properties' without the GRRP funds.
Bloomberg
25-03-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Trump's Funding Block Leaves Affordable Housing Projects in Limbo
A move by the Trump administration to block a $1.4 billion program for green building retrofits has left hundreds of affordable housing projects in limbo. The Green and Resilient Retrofit Program is one of the several energy-efficient initiatives targeted by Elon Musks' efficiency push. It aimed to improve aging housing complexes subsidized by the Department of Housing and Urban Development through efforts like installing insulation and solar panels, as well as clearing a backlog of maintenance issues. But several renovations that were already underway are now halted as developers seek answers or alternative funding source, Kriston Capps and Sarah Holder report. Today on CityLab:
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Affordable housing project in limbo as new administration reconsiders $1B retrofit program
Michael Polite can look back now with newly fraught nostalgia to all the rituals that came with applying for and being awarded federal grant money for an affordable housing project downtown. In this case, Polite, a senior vice president for affordable housing developer Beacon Communities, recalls the time in November 2023 when his company received a more than $5 million federal grant through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in the first round of a new Green and Resilient Retrofit Program seeded with $1 billion in funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, legislation signed by former President Joe Biden in 2022. 'The action was already approved. The building was picked,' recalled Polite, who has applied for various subsidies of all kinds to pursue affordable housing projects in his career. 'The cardboard check had already been photographed.' Fast-forward about 16 months and with the new administration of President Donald J. Trump, working closely with Elon Musk overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency, Polite has reason to wonder if the federal funding is coming. 'Now, you have the new administration that has to figure out how is it going to proceed,' he said. While there has been no direct announcement by HUD yet of any changes to the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program, the Associated Press is reporting, using unnamed sources and internal documents, that DOGE and the Trump Administration are halting the $1 billion GRRP, a move that if formally decided, announced and approved will throw plenty of plans and capital stacks into a state of uncertainty. The more than $5 million award to Beacon was expected to be used for such upgrades as new windows, insulation and HVAC at the May Building, located at 111 Fifth Ave. downtown. Click here to read more from our partners at the Pittsburgh Business Times. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
