The Department of Housing Stability (HOST) provides low cost financing to facilitate the development of new and preservation of existing affordable housing through products designed to meet the City's priorities for affordable housing.
Rental developments may serve households earning up to 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI). However, projects serving households at or below 30% AMI or formerly homeless households will receive priority consideration. Any rental development receiving HOST funding will be subject to a 60-year affordability period.
Homeownership developments may serve households up to 100% AMI, but projects serving households at or below 80% AMI and/or providing affordability periods over 60 years will receive priority consideration.
Financing for the development and preservation of income-restricted housing is invested according to the Term Sheet below. Each financing product is designed to be responsive to gaps in market financing available for different types of affordable housing projects.
Applications for financing products are reviewed as received and prioritized according to a) HOST’s funding priorities and b) funding availability of varying fund sources.
2024 Term Sheet(PDF, 197KB)
Application
Other
Max Rents and Rental Income Limits
Homeownership Income Limits
Please note: If you have any issues reading any portion of the above documents, please contact us at housingstability@denvergov.org for assistance.
The city prioritizes investment in projects that meet key affordable housing policy priorities. These priorities relate to a) the location of the proposed project, b) the characteristics of the project itself, and c) funding and underwriting for the project.
Our housing loan application requires applicants to respond to questions about how the proposed project meets specific city priorities. Prior to being accepted for underwriting, applications for city financing will be evaluated according to how well they meet the following priorities. The HOST Application Template includes a checklist of funding priorities and the HOST Housing Financing Application Instructions include a request for additional description in the narrative.
Once and application is accepted by the city, all requests for financing are subject to underwriting approval by the Loan Review Committee and approval by City Council where applicable.
Location-specific priorities include:
- Affordable housing in neighborhoods with access to transportation
- Housing that supports our anti-displacement efforts in neighborhoods vulnerable to gentrification
- Affordable housing in neighborhoods with high “access to opportunity” factors such as high quality education, proximity to good paying jobs, and other services and amenities such as parks, libraries, recreation centers, child care, health care, and grocery stores
Project-specific qualifications include:
- Affordable housing within mixed-income developments
- Affordable housing for very low income (30% AMI) households
- Affordable housing for special populations and accompanying amenities or services as needed
- High quality, sustainable housing development
- Development that includes services or amenities that support economic mobility of residents
Funding priorities include:
- Leverage of other funding sources to minimize the request for HOST gap funding
- Availability and allowable uses of HOST fund sources
Projects applying for city financing must also meet minimum readiness to proceed criteria, including:
- Site control
- Completed environmental assessment
- Correct zoning designation
- Conditional commitments from other financing sources
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HOST staff will work with your team through all City processes, beginning with negotiation, environmental review, when appropriate, and underwriting upon receipt of an application. It is important to note that while HOST staff can help identify appropriate funding levels based on policy and underwriting, and funding availability, all funding decisions are made by the Loan Review Committee (LRC) and no agreement is final until approved by Council and Mayor.
Once a conditional approval is issued HOST staff works with the City Attorney’s Office (CAO) to draft loan documents. After a Loan Agreement is executed by borrower, all loans over $500,000 must proceed through the legislative process to obtain a final Council decision. The process may be lengthy (3-6 months) depending on the transaction, and the number of agenda items before the Council for consideration. This timeline assumes no significant negotiation issues and minimal borrower comments to City template documents.
Loan modifications and Subordination requests may require a Loan Agreement amendment, and may also require a review process as referenced above.
Additionally, affordable housing linkage fee exemptions are handled through Community Planning and Development in collaboration with HOST and require a fully-executed instrument of affordability document to qualify. The linkage fee exemption for affordable housing projects is different from the linkage fee waiver for projects that voluntarily include mixed-income affordable units.
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Each year on March 1, HOST will solicit Letters of Intent (LOI) from affordable housing developers, or their representative, who are seeking a PAB allocation from the next immediate year’s capacity. LOIs are due to the HOST no later than March 31. With prior approval from HOST, projects located within an expiring Qualified Census Tract (QCT) may apply for City PAB earlier than March 31st in order to preserve the QCT status.
At a minimum, LOIs, must include the following
- Cover letter for the request, summarizing the project
- Applicant name, address, telephone (if a subsidiary, provide information for subsidiary and parent company)
- Individual contact name, telephone, and email
- Project name and address
- Amount of PAB request
- Request date for PAB issuance
- Description of the project
- The unit mix for the project
- The scope of work for the project
- Sources and uses for project
- Finance plan for project
- Experience of applicant
- Renderings/drawings of the project
HOST will convene an internal review committee to assess and prioritize the LOIs using the Prioritization Factors listed below and with the approval of the Executive Director of HOST, or their designee, invite selected developers to formally apply for PAB cap. The number of invitations to apply will depend on available capacity. Developers will be notified of their invitation to apply by April 30.
Prioritization Factors
Based on the applications received, the PAB Working Group will make a formal recommendation and DOF and HOST Executives will approve or deny the recommendation. Recommendation will be based on the following considerations:
- How the project fits into HOST priorities for City PAB use. Prioritization factors will be weighted at staff discretion and should include the following considerations:
- HOST (or other City) funding request per unit
- Expiring Qualified Census Tract
- Existing affordability restrictions expiring in next five years (preservation)
- Total development cost per unit
- Total new restricted units
- Share of Family units (three-bedroom or larger)
- Share of units restricted at 30% or below of area median income
- Sites subject to deadlines from a City land RFP
- Sites subject to deadlines related to the “D3 IGA” with DHA
- Consideration of developer’s active pipeline
- Projects that serve homeless tenancy with qualified Supportive Housing services
- Any commitments the City has already made for the project (i.e. City loan, TIF, etc.).
- How the use for project will affect the PAB pipeline.
- Status of the project through any City approval process (Entitlements, TIF, HOST Financing etc.)
Application Requirements
Formal applications are to include:
All of the information submitted in the Letter of Intent. Information should be current as of the time of application.
Name and contact information for construction and permanent financing provider
Information about construction and permanent financing (i.e. Term Sheet).
Name and contact information for tax credit equity provider (if applicable)
Name and contact information for other consultants or project partners (City retains the right to approve these participants
The application fee
Application Fees
HOST receives applications and fees based upon the invitation to apply. Applications and fees will be due no later than June 1st. Application fees are as follows:
- $1,000 for non-profit
- $2,500 for-profit
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For more in-depth inquiries, please contact: John Torres, Housing Development Administrator John.Torres2@denvergov.org