Housing Development Solicitation

Eligible housing type and projects must be either:

• Permanent general occupancy rental housing with a minimum of five rental units and/or permanent supportive housing for extremely low to moderate-income renters with a minimum of five rental units.

OR

• A pool of funds for the acquisition of existing housing units for affordable homeownership.

All applicants must provide all required application materials by the application deadline.

Applications will be reviewed for the above criteria before moving on to final scoring. Selected projects will be scored based on the following criteria:

1. Project Feasibility and Financial Capacity (up to 30 points).
2. Affordability (up to 30 points).
3. Organizational Capacity (up to 10 points).
4. Alignment with the County’s Strategic and Selection Priorities (up to 30 points).

Read the full 2023 Housing Development Solicitation Notice (PDF) for more details.

For this solicitation, are there funds for new construction home ownership? No, the new construction of single-family homes is not an eligible use. However, funds have been made available for non-profit and government agencies for the acquisition of new single-family homes. These funds need to be expended by March 1, 2024.

What is the required timeline to expend funds? ​There are four different funding streams for this solicitation. Each funding stream will have its own expenditure deadlines and timeliness. Ramsey County recommends that all projects are completed within 12-18 months of award, or the applicant may risk losing the awarded amount for project.

For ARPA can units with project-based vouchers count towards the 10% affordability allocation at 30% AMI? Yes, the American Rescue Plan Act funding will allow project-based voucher units at 30% AMI to be counted toward affordability constraints. Two stipulations are, no tenant is required to pay over 30% of their personal income toward housing and there must be a net-gain of at least 10% of affordability to the county.  

Would you be able to share the list of participants from the webinar in the FAQ so that we can connect with others on teaming for this opportunity? No, due to technical limitations we cannot tell you everyone who was invited to the webinar. We did leave this question posted in the live informational session with hopes that organizations with the desire to collaborate could reach out to you. 

Are there any significant differences in this application compared to the previous Ramsey County Housing Solicitations from the previous year? The eligible activities and the types of funding available in this solicitation differ from last year’s solicitation. For example, general obligation bonds are not available this year and single-family new construction is not an eligible use. Please visit the affordable housing investments webpage to compare solicitations.

Available Resources – confirm that as an applicant we do not request or decide which money we will get if awarded.  That information will be provided by county. The Ramsey County Community Economic Development department is happy to announce a consolidated process for this solicitation. Staff will evaluate each application and choose the most appropriate funding stream for individual projects. This means applicants do not need to request or decide which funding stream make the most sense for their project(s).

Are the funding source amounts for this solicitation available to share? The amount of funding available is dependent on the number of competitive applications that Ramsey County receives. Please review the affordable housing investments webpage to review our past solicitations. Hopefully, this information will help you understand the scope of funding that may be available as well as the award amounts for approved projects. We aim to fund projects at a similar level to the Spring 2022 Inclusive Housing Development Solicitation.

Does "deferred loan" mean we have to pay it back - over what timeline? Deferred loan means that you will have to pay the county back at the end of the loan term with a percentage of interest (generally between 0-2%). This coincides with maturity of the loan. Loans may be refinanced or extended to further preserve affordability. 

Will any of the ARPA funding be included in the summer application for single-family or emerging developers this summer? No, Ramsey County staff is looking to use all of the American Rescue Plan Act funding available in this solicitation in order to meet federal spending timeliness requirements. Housing Redevelopment Authority levy funding will be used for the summer solicitation that’s geared towards emerging developers.

Is there scoring for non-rental, homeownership acquisition/ rehab? Yes, there are four scoring criteria that are used for all eligible activities as outlined in the solicitation notice. Homeownership acquisition projects will only be scored alongside other homeownership acquisition applications. 

Can American Rescue Plan Act funds be used for new construction in the city of St Paul (Phalen neighborhood), or just Ramsey County suburbs? Yes, American Rescue Plan Act funding will be available countywide, including the city of Saint Paul.

If we are asking for partial funding for construction, do we have to have the rest of the funding sources confirmed or under development? Applicants should list all sources of financing in the Multifamily Workbook provided through the ZoomGrants Application. Very rarely would Ramsey County be the only funding source in a project.

How many projects did you fund last year from the $24 million? Please visit the affordable housing investments webpage to see past awards.