RFP #27022 Athens-Clarke County Affordable Housing Fund Administrator

A local housing fund is a powerful and flexible tool to support the creation and preservation of affordable housing. They leverage diverse revenue sources (governmental, philanthropic, etc.) and offer a variety of flexible financial products. Local housing funds leverage, on average, $8 to every $1 of public investment. In October 2023, the ACCGov Mayor and Commission (M&C) accepted the Affordable Housing Investment Strategy (AHIS) developed by HR&A Advisors in consultation with staff and community input. The plan was centered around three key recommendations that HR&A Advisors identified as critical for ACCGov to "foster a housing market that meets the needs of all residents through the creation and preservation of a variety of homes." These include: Recommendation 1 : Establish a Local Housing Fund to provide locally sourced and managed dollars toward a range of housing needs; Recommendation 2 : Build and preserve quality affordable rental homes through gap financing support for LIHTC projects; an acquisition strike fund; and voluntary inclusionary zoning; and, Recommendation 3 : Expand access to homeownership and support existing homeowners through down payment assistance and owner-occupied repair. In June 2024, the M&C adopted the FY25 Operating and Capital Budgets that included the creation of three subprojects within the existing Affordable Housing Special Revenue Fund, and an allocation of an initial $1M to the Acquisition Strike Fund, $2M to the Single-Family Affordable Housing Fund, and $2.41M to the Gap Financing Fund for Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) Projects Fund. In June 2025, the Mayor and Commission allocated an additional $1M to the Gap Financing Fund for Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) Projects Fund. Since 2025, the M&C have leveraged funds from the Affordable Housing Special Revenue Fund to provide a total of $4.4M in loans to the Athens Housing Authority to support the development of Classic City Heights and North Downtown Athens multi-family communities. Due to the Georgia Gratuities Clause (which prohibits the donation or grant of public funds to private individuals or entities absent adequate public consideration and clear public purpose), ACCGov may only authorize such loans to quasi-governmental entities like the Athens Housing Authority and not to other developers including those focused on single-family housing or homes for the "missing middle." Given the inherent limitations of the Georgia Gratuities Clause, the search for an external entity to administer the ACCAHF is therefore critical to the full deployment of the funds, and maximum impact on the local affordable housing needs. Since 2025, the ACCGov Housing & Community Development Department (HCD) has collaborated with LEH Consulting Group to define a framework for the ACCAHF and develop an initial product matrix, general loan policy, initial underwriting guidelines and scoring criteria for loan applicants. The selected applicant will be required to continue to collaborate with the LEH Consulting Group to finalize these materials and others during at least the initial 24 months of implementation.