Thursday, November 19, 2009

Breaking: New Albany awarded 6.7 million in neighborhood stabilization funds.

Word from Indy is that New Albany's application for funds via the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 (NSP2) has been approved for $6.7 million.

From the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority's web site:

NSP2 will provide grants to states, certain local communities and nonprofits to purchase and redevelop foreclosed or abandoned homes or other vacant properties, for resale or rental to low, moderate, and middle income households, in order to stabilize neighborhoods and stem the declining values of neighboring homes. The funding is provided under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) for additional activities under Division B, Title III of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA).

More as details become available...

Update: Per Daniel Suddeath of the Tribune, the award actually comes from a shuffling of NSP1 funds rather than NSP2.

17 comments:

The New Albanian said...

Thanks, BG. This is great news.

Daniel S said...

It's not NSP 2, but we did get the money. They moved more federal money to the NSP 1 or they would have lost it.

Jeff Gillenwater said...

Fair enough. Thanks. Same cause, same money.

Daniel S said...

Really good news. That's half our budget. The NSP 2 is coming later this year. Clere said they didn't want to risk waiting on that.

bayernfan said...

This is tremendous for the neighborhood identified by most as a "tipping point" for NA. Of course, I'm sure Mr. Coffey will be disappointed that yet more good things are happening in New Albany.

dan chandler said...

This is the best news possible.

I want to thank the Mayor and his staff for putting in an ambitious NSP1 application.

I want to thank Rep. Clere for bringing the unutilized funds to the attention of the Office of the Lt. Governor and persuading them that New Albany would be a good recipient of the money.

Now we have the tough task of making sure those funds are deployed in the best possible way. It’s a good problem to have!

Jeff Gillenwater said...

Lots and lots of work ahead. And, as Dan mentions, that's a very good thing.

This is the stimulus money working in our community. Keep in mind, too, that funds will be recovered as rehabilitated homes sell, hopefully enabling rehabilitation and marketing efforts to continue beyond initial funding.

Thanks to those who put in the effort and will.

Christopher D said...

Excellent! Thanks for Sharing Bluegill!

G Coyle said...

"The grant will be used to acquire, rebuild and resale 40 houses in the S. Ellen Jones neighborhood that are currently in disrepair."

I hope we see redevelopment and historic preservation working together on those 40 houses, some of them are historic.

dan chandler said...
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dan chandler said...
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dan chandler said...

A little more on the money shuffle.

There was a stimulus program that ended up being under utilized, especially in Southern Indiana. It was a tax credit to individuals purchasing and restoring vacant homes. While people in the Indianapolis area were using this credit, Ed the real estate agent knew that it was not being advertised or used here. He approached the Lt. Governor’s office and their data confirmed that we were not benefiting from the tax credit. Add that with New Albany’s initially denied NSP1 application, and it was clear we weren’t getting our share of stimulus money.

If the state did not use all of this tax credit money, the money reverted to the feds. The state projected that about $12M of tax credits would be unused. Ed asked the state to consider using some of that $12M to fund the NSP1 application.

Since Ed is a Republican, my guess is that it didn’t hurt that we have a Republic Governor/Lt. Governor. Of course, there would no application to fund if the administration did not submit one earlier in the year.

Jeff Gillenwater said...

I'm getting pretty drunk from the irony-fortified water being passed around here the past couple of days.

I like it. I'm afraid to go to sleep, but I like it.

B.W. Smith said...

Amazing news. Congrats should go to Ted Fulmore as well. I know he was involved in the process.

Iamhoosier said...

Bluegill,
Missed the "y" on the first read. Made much more sense on the second. LOL

Anonymous said...
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The New Albanian said...

Die, spammers.