Harvey Multifamily Program

Percentage of Houstonians who rent their homes

Percentage of households affected by Harvey were renters

On average, renter households struggle to find affordable options more than homeowners. 46% of renter households spend 30% or more of their monthly income on housing. 23% spend 50% or more. Three-fifths of children live in rental units. So do two-thirds of Houston’s foreign-born population.

Houston was short on affordable multifamily homes before Hurricane Harvey. Now, our need is even more urgent. The Harvey Multifamily Program builds and repairs multifamily developments. These new and refurbished units will stay affordable to low- and moderate-income residents for at least 20 years.

Map of Selected Developments

The first of three rounds of funding for multifamily development opened in February 2019 and closed April 12, 2019. Fifty-six applications were reviewed and 15 were selected for funding. The selected developments will create 1,604 apartments in Houston, the majority of which will be rented at guaranteed-affordable rates to qualified renters.

Funding Timeline

June 2019	September 2019	January 2020	2021
1^st round applications	1^st round projects announced	2^nd round applications	3^rd round applications, 3^rd round projects announced

million for over 1600 units by 2024

Applicants will apply for this funding through a Notice of Funding Available (NOFA) process. HCDD will update this website with important dates.

Requirements

Developments must:

Rent at least half of their units to low-income renters for at least 20 years.
Give workers protections as laid out in the Build Houston Better Program .
Align with the City’s Multifamily Development Principles.
Manage Davis-Bacon, Section 3, and MWSBE requirements.
Comply with green building standards.

The City prioritizes developments that:

Leverage other financing sources.
Create mixed income housing opportunities.
Are close to public transit and highly rated schools.
Reinvest in Complete Communities and other Community Reinvestment Areas.
Are located in areas where real estate values are rising and where many moderate- and low-income residents need affordable options.
Protect from future flooding and climate concerns.

For details, please see our Compliance page

News

City of Houston selects 4 more developments that create affordable apartments with federal funds for Harvey recovery

Round 1 of the City’s Harvey Multifamily Program includes $163 million of investment that will create 1,604 apartments Houston will soon have many more affordable, resilient apartments for renters. The City of Houston’s Housing and Community Development Department today announced four additional awards for its first round of funding for the Harvey Multifamily Program. This…

Disaster Recovery (DR-17) Multifamily Rental Program Guidelines

Draft Guidelines for Proposed Programs: Hurricane Harvey The City of Houston will receive $1,175,954,338 in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds for assisting in long-term housing recovery from Hurricane Harvey. To receive this funding, the City must submit guidelines to the Texas General Land Office for approval. Click here to view the draft guidelines about…

Application Log & Documents

Document Name	Last Updated
Program Overview	November 2019
Program Guidelines	May 2019
Application Log: 2019 Multifamily NOFA (DR-17)	April 2019
2019 Multifamily NOFA (DR-17) Map	May 2019