“This is a tremendous opportunity for Cleveland to expand access to affordable housing while increasing access to healthy food for residents and growing sustainable, transit-oriented development,” Arthur Jemison, principal deputy assistant secretary in HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development, said in a release. “Cleveland’s mixed-use development will demonstrate how HUD programs and resources, such as the Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program, can create innovative solutions and help build strong, vibrant communities.”
The mixed-use development includes a new 40,000 square foot Meijer grocery store, approximately 150,778 square feet of residential space including 90 market rate one-bedroom units, 90 micro+ units, six standard micro-units, 10 two-bedroom units, 200 parking garage spaces and 125 surface-level spaces for the grocery store. The project is expected to create 40 new full-time-equivalent jobs.
Section 108 provides Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) recipients with the ability to leverage their annual grant allocation to access low-cost, flexible financing for economic development, housing, public facility, and infrastructure projects.
Section 108 allows local governments to leverage five times their current CDBG award into federally guaranteed loans large enough to pursue physical and economic revitalization projects capable of redeveloping entire neighborhoods. As the need for economic recovery and community development continues, HUD said its Section 108 program serves as a critical source of federal financing that helps to move projects in distressed areas forward and build strong, sustainable, inclusive communities.
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