Grants will rejuvenate older downtown business districts and develop affordable housing while retaining the area’s historic character.
Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that a total of three grantees will receive an award for a combined $2 Million in 2023 Hope VI Main Street grants. These grants will assist small communities in rejuvenating older downtown business districts and developing affordable housing while retaining the area’s traditional and historic character. HUD’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Housing Investments, Marianne Nazzaro, made the announcement in Kansas, highlighting the importance of rejuvenation efforts for smaller and rural communities and the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to stabilizing affordable housing for all Americans.
“HUD understands the importance of preserving the character of our nation’s main streets as we work to increase the supply of affordable housing in small towns and rural communities,” said Secretary Marcia L. Fudge. “Residents living in areas like these deserve to benefit from new investments and improvements.”
The grant funds can be used to build new affordable housing or reconfigure obsolete or surplus commercial space or extremely substandard, vacant housing into affordable housing units. The funds awarded must be used to assist local government that have existing Main Street area rejuvenation projects and have certain population and public housing unit limits. Main Street housing units must be affordable to the initial residents that occupy the Main Street housing project. Here are the 2023 grant recipients:
- The City of Emporia, Kansas is being awarded a $500,000 Main Street grant to help redevelop a historic property into seven units of new housing.
- The City of Caney, Kansas is being awarded a $500,000 grant to help develop six affordable housing rental apartments at a historic building at the heart of Caney’s downtown.
- The Municipality of Manatí, Puerto Rico is being awarded a $1,000,000 grant to help redevelop fourteen affordable housing units on sites spread throughout the Municipality’s Main Street area.
“We see the potential and beauty in these spaces, and we know that these investments will have a positive impact far beyond the buildings themselves,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary Nazzaro. “America is a nation of small towns, and we are proud to support these communities.”
Learn more about the Main Street program here.