City of Concordia awarded MIH funds

An effort by the city of Concordia and CloudCorp to address a moderate income housing shortage has received a boost with an announcement made by the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation.
Concordia was one of 11 Kansas communities to be awarded Moderate Income Housing (MIH) funds through the state of Kansas program, and will receive $650,000 to help fund the construction of 15 single-family homes.
MIH funds are awarded to cities and counties to develop multi-family rental units and single-family homes for purchase in communities with populations fewer than 60,000.
It was also announced that CloudCorp has been awarded $480,000 in Kansas Housing Investor Tax Credits (KHITC) for the housing development plan.
A total of $4,998,936 in MIH funds and $7,593,000 in KHITC were awarded.
Combined with the amount leveraged by each community to support  proposed initiatives, the awards represent a total investment of $33,845,101 and a net gain of 175 affordable, quality housing units.
A study done by FIVE RULE Rural Planning, Kearney, Neb., revealed a shortage of moderate and high income housing.
Based on the findings of the housing study, the CloudCorp community resources committee recommended that the city proceed with the establishment of new housing subdivisions within the city limits to create up to 30 new housing units.
During an intergovernmental meeting in September, the city commission and administration discussed the possible establishment of a Rural Housing Incentive District and applying for the MIH funds to help in the development of the housing subdivisions.
It was announced in September that the Cloud County Health Center board of trustees had approved gifting the ground at 1100 Highland Drive where the old hospital currently stands to the city of Concordia Land Bank for the purpose of developing moderate to high income housing.
During its meeting on September 21, the city commission approved a development agreement with Cloud County Health Center for the donation of the property.
The development agreement states that the city will have 18 months to commence construction and proceed with due diligence, or the hospital may reacquire the property at no cost.
During that same meeting, the commission authorized the city to proceed with the competitive MIH grant proposal.