Affordable housing developers are always looking for new opportunities. One place you may not be looking to is Puerto Rico. In a statement issued earlier this year, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that it has signed an agreement with the Commonwealth to help improve and implement its housing plan. A signing ceremony was held in San Juan, attended by the Governor of Puerto Rico and several HUD officials.
As part of the agreement, Puerto Rico agreed to create a Housing Task Force that will conduct an assessment of housing needs and develop a plan to meet those needs. A two-year deadline has been set for Puerto Rico to make adjustments to its internal systems in order to handle additional HUD funds effectively and appropriately. Puerto Rico has also committed to developing an open and competitive process for selecting grant recipients.
For its part, HUD is committed to helping conduct the needs assessment, helping the Commonwealth develop its plan, making improvements to the financial management of its programs, and training relevant individuals and organizations on how to effectively pool funds. from HUD with money from other sources in order to meet Commonwealth development goals.
Under the agreement, HUD will use the HOME Investment Partnership Program and the Community Development Block Grant Program as its primary tools to encourage housing development in the Commonwealth. Both HUD officials and the Governor of Puerto Rico agree that the Commonwealth’s housing plan should focus on people with special needs, the elderly, and people living with HIV / AIDS. This latest HUD partnership opens the door to new investment and development opportunities, especially as the Commonwealth works to streamline its processes. Details of the settlement can be viewed on HUD’s website.
