Developers Collaborative, a developer that is planning to construct new housing at the site of City of Belfast’s former public works facility at 115 Congress Street, is seeking funding through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Housing Assistance Grant Program. This program can award grants of up to $500,000, which can be used for soft (non-construction) costs related to the construction of new housing for low- and moderate-income persons, such as permits/fees, engineering services/surveys, architectural services, environmental reports, appraisals, and market studies.
This grant would increase Developers Collaborative’s amount of below market capital for their housing project, which would both improve the project’s overall financials and increase their score on their upcoming housing tax credit application to MaineHousing (where an allocation of tax credits is absolutely critical for the project to proceed). Developers Collaborative will have to provide matching funds in at least a 5:1 ratio (for every grant dollar received, the entity must provide 20 cents of matching funds).
The City of Belfast will be holding a public hearing on this grant application on Tuesday, May 4th, 2021, as part of its regularly scheduled City Council meeting, which begins at 6:30pm on that date. Public comments will be solicited at this hearing and will be submitted as part of the application. Comments may be submitted in writing to:
Thomas Kittredge
Economic Development Director for the City of Belfast
Belfast City Hall
131 Church Street
Belfast, Maine 04915
or via email to: economicdevelopment@cityofbelfast.org at any time prior to the public hearing.
