Overview

The Department of Community Development offers resources in support of Affordable Housing Development. The Housing Trust Fund Office coordinates the investment of federal resources and non-federal resources for the construction and rehabilitation of affordable housing for individuals and families whose income is at or below 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI).

These resources are available to all developers and neighborhoods and can be used in support of multi-family rental projects and single-family for-sale projects.

Pre-Development Consulting

The City of Cleveland welcomes new developers to the City and encourages their participation in our communities. The City offers resources in support of various forms of market rate and affordable housing development in all neighborhoods. These resources can be difficult to access for new or unfamiliar developers. As such, the Department of Community Development will offer assistance and support to new developers seeking to use these funds.

Staff at the Department of Community Development can offer support in the following ways:

• Explanation of City Programs and Regulations
• Evaluation of Project Financials
• Evaluation of Building Plans and Design
• Regular consultation to track project development

Housing Trust Fund – Multi-Family Rental Program

This program supports housing development projects that will include affordable housing units that will serve low- and moderate-income households. Market-rate projects that contain affordable units are eligible and encouraged. A limited amount of the City’s HUD HOME funds will be allocated through an annual RFP, which describes project eligibility, application requirements, and the format for submitting proposals.

Before submitting your application, all applicants are required to request a meeting with URA compliance staff. To do so, please email Marc Foy and Patrick Metzger to request a meeting. Please copy Mary Barnwell and Cecilia Rodriguez. This request must include the URA Proposed Project Information Form.

For Single-Family applications, please contact EJ McGorty and Cecilia Rodriguez directly for a copy of the 2025 HTF Workbook for Single-Family Projects.

Please note, that once submitting a proposal, you will receive an email from the Housing Development Office asking for the following attachments:

1. Completed 2025 HTF Financial Analysis Workbook
2. Developer Development experience , last 5 years of completed projects
3. URA Forms 1-3
4. URA GIN Form signed by existing Tenant and Tenant Roster. See Sample URA Form and Tenant Roster.  (Occupied Projects Only)
5. Market Study
   1. See Attachment E of the 2025 HTF RFP
6. Entity Information including:
   1. Certificate of Good Standing
   2. Articles of Incorporation
   3. UEI Number
7. Financial Statements (Audited and/or Tax Returns)
   1. See Attachment F of the 2025 HTF RFP
8. Evidence of Site Control
9. Cost Estimates or a Bid on a General Contractors letterhead
10. Detailed Scope of Work and Project Specifications
11. Green Building Plan, or, at minimum, proposal with scope from Green Building consultant which includes:
    1. Submittal to the Enterprise Portal, Architectural Drawings, Site Plans, Elevations, and Sections (as needed)
12. Letter from project Architect indicating that the project will meet the updated version of 2021 IECC and ASHRAE 90.1-2019
    1. See Attachment L of the 2025 HTF RFP for alternative compliance pathways
13. Architectural Drawings, Site Plans, Elevations, and Sections (as needed)
14. Site Photos (all 4 Elevations) & Site Location Map
15. Financing Commitment Letters or Applications for Funding (if not yet committed)
16. Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing Plan (Projects with 5+ units)
17. Community Outreach Plan
18. Letter of Support from a Local Community Development Corporation
19. Continuum of Care Endorsement (Permanent Supportive Housing only)
20. After Built/Rehab Uniform Residential Appraisal Report (subject to completion per plans and specifications on the basis of a hypothetical condition that the improvements have been completed)
21. Phase I ESA (ASTM E1527-21)
22. Paint Testing, Lead Risk Assessment, and Contractor RRP Certification (for pre-1978 rehabs only)
    1. See Attachment D of the 2025 HTF RFP
23. HUD Site and Neighborhood Standards Determination
    1. See Attachment C of the 2025 HTF RFP for more information
24. Capital Needs Assessment (for rehabilitation projects with 26+ units), Property Inspection List
25. Build America, Buy America Act (BABA) Compliance Plan with Letter from General Contractor—on GC Letterhead—acknowledging that the cost estimates account for BABA compliance.
26. Any other supporting documentation for Selection Scoring Criteria outlined in the 2025 HTF RFP.
     

Community Housing Development Organizations (CHDOs)

The City of Cleveland will be releasing a 2025 Request for Proposals (RFP) for Community Housing Development Organizations (CHDOs)

CHDOs are private, nonprofit, community-based housing development organizations that are organized under state or local law to develop affordable housing in the communities they serve.

The City of Cleveland receives a yearly allocation of HOME funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Fifteen percent of those funds must be "set-aside" to be awarded to CHDOs to develop housing. The City of Cleveland awards these funds through its Housing Trust Fund (HTF) program in the form of gap financing for affordable housing developments. The guidelines for the City’s CHDO program are based on the Code of Federal Regulations Title 24 – Housing and Urban Development, Part 92 – HOME Investment Partnership Program. Attaining CHDO status indicates that the organization has the capacity to own, develop or sponsor a particular type (rental or owned) of HOME-assisted housing. It also indicates that the organization is an integral part of the community it is chartered to serve.

Organizations interested in being certified as a CHDO in order to qualify for this upcoming RFP will need to submit the 2025 CHDO Application (sample application).

CHDO Certification Process

HUD HOME rules require that housing development organizations (even previously certified CHDOs) must be certified as a CHDO each time they apply for HOME funding from the 15 percent set-aside. An organization can only be a CHDO if it is involved in a particular HOME-funded development project.
An applicant seeking to participate in an HTF development as a CHDO must submit the CHDO Certification Application by the deadline indicated in the most current qualified allocation plan. Those elements of the certification that can be reviewed prior to the submission of the HTF proposal, such as confirming proper board composition, non-profit status, mission to provide affordable housing, service areas and involving the community, will be evaluated, Applicants will be notified of any deficiencies with enough time to correct any issues prior to the HTF proposal application deadline.

Once the HTF proposal application is received and the details of the development become known, The City of Cleveland will make the final determination of CHDO eligibility. Determination will be based on evaluating the development experience of the paid staff and its relation to the proposed development, the capacity of the CHDO to function as the sole general partner or sole managing member of the ownership entity, the appropriateness of the CHDO as a part of the development team and the assessment of the financial capacity of the organization.

Developer Capacity

The organization can only be a CHDO for the type of development project (example: multifamily rental) for which it can demonstrate it has paid employees with housing development experience who will work directly on the HOME–assisted project. Where the paid employees of the organization do not demonstrate capacity to develop a HOME–assisted project alone, the experience of paid employees may be supplemented by board members or officers of the organization that are volunteers. If a nonprofit organization is demonstrating capacity using a volunteer board member's or officer's experience, the volunteer may not be compensated by or have their services donated by another organization. For its first year of funding as a community housing development organization, an organization may satisfy this requirement through a contract with a consultant who has housing development experience to train appropriate key, paid staff of the organization.

Transfer of Ownership

In a limited partnership (LP), the CHDO or its subsidiary must be the managing general partner. In a limited liability company (LLC) the CHDO or its subsidiary must be the managing member. Furthermore, of the LP or LLC agreement permits the CHDO to be removed as managing general partner or managing member, the agreement must provide that the removal must be fore cause and that the CHDO must be replaced with another CHDO.

Developing housing as a CHDO has taken on increased obligations and commitments. The Federal Regulations can be found at the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations.

More information about CHDOs can be found on the HUD Exchange.