§ 905.606 - Development proposal.

§ 905.606 Development proposal.

(a) Development proposal. Prior to developing public housing, either through new construction or through acquisition, with or without rehabilitation, a PHA must submit a development proposal to HUD in the form prescribed by HUD, which will allow HUD to assess the viability and financial feasibility of the proposed development. A development proposal must be submitted for all types of public housing development, including mixed-finance. Failure to submit and obtain HUD approval of a development proposal may result in the public housing funds used in conjunction with the project being deemed ineligible expenses. In determining the amount of information to be submitted by the PHA, HUD shall consider whether the documentation is required for HUD to carry out mandatory statutory, regulatory, or Executive order reviews; the quality of the PHA's past performance in implementing development projects under this subpart; the PHA's demonstrated administrative capability; and other program requirements. The development proposal shall include some or all of the following documentation, as deemed necessary by HUD.

(1) Project description. A description of the proposed project, including:

(i) Proposed development method (e.g., mixed-finance, new construction, acquisition with or without rehabilitation, turnkey, etc.), including the extent to which the PHA will use force account labor and use procured contractors. For new construction projects, the PHA must meet the program requirements contained in § 905.602. For projects involving acquisition of existing properties less than 2 years old, the PHA must include an attestation from the PHA and the owner of the property that the property was not constructed with the intent that it would be sold to the PHA or, if it was constructed with the intent that it be sold to the PHA, that it was constructed in compliance with all applicable requirements (e.g., Davis Bacon wage rates, accessibility, etc.);

(ii) Type of residents to occupy the units (e.g., family, elderly, persons with disabilities, or families that include persons with disabilities);

(iii) Number and type of unit (detached, semidetached, row house, walkup, elevator), with bedroom count, broken out by public housing vs. nonpublic housing, if applicable;

(iv) The type and size of nondwelling space, if applicable; and

(v) Schematic drawings of the proposed buildings, unit plans, and additional information regarding plans and specifications, as needed by HUD to review the project.

(2) Site information. An identification and description of the proposed site and neighborhood, a site plan, and a map of the neighborhood.

(3) Participant description. Identification of participating parties and a description of the activities to be undertaken by each of the participating parties and the PHA; and the legal and business relationships between the PHA and each of the participating parties, as applicable.

(4) Development project schedule. A schedule for the development project that includes each major stage of development, through and including the submission of an Actual Development Cost Certificate to HUD.

(5) Accessibility. A PHA must provide sufficient information for HUD to determine that dwelling units and other public housing facilities meet accessibility requirements specified at § 905.312 of this part, including, but not limited to, the number, location, and bedroom size distribution of accessible dwelling units (see 24 CFR 8.32 and 24 CFR part 40).

(6) Project costs.

(i) Budgets. To allow HUD to assess sources of funding and projected uses of funds, the PHA shall submit a project budget, in the form prescribed by HUD, reflecting the total permanent development budget for the project, including all sources and uses of funds, including hard and soft costs. The PHA shall also submit a budget for the construction period and a construction draw schedule showing the timing of construction financing contributions and disbursements. In addition, the PHA shall submit an independent construction cost estimate or actual construction contract that supports the permanent and construction budgets.

(ii) TDC calculation. The PHA must submit a calculation of the TDC and HCC, subject to § 905.314 of this part.

(iii) Financing. A PHA must submit a detailed description of all financing necessary for the implementation of the project, specifying the sources and uses. In addition, HUD may require documents related to the financing (e.g., loan documents, partnership or operating agreement, regulatory and operating agreement, etc.) to be submitted in final draft form as part of the development proposal. Upon financial closing, HUD may also require final, executed copies of these documents to be submitted to HUD for final approval, per § 905.612(b)(2) of this part.

(A) Commitment of funds. Documents submitted pursuant to this section must irrevocably commit funds to the project. Irrevocability of funds means that binding legal documents - such as loan agreements, mortgages, deeds of trust, partnership agreements or operating agreements, or similar documents committing funds - have been executed by the applicable parties; though disbursement of such funds may be subject to meeting progress milestones, the absence of default, and/or other conditions generally consistent with similar non-public housing transactions. For projects involving revolving loan funds, the irrevocability of funds means that funds in an amount identified to HUD as the maximum revolving loan have been committed pursuant to legally binding documents; though disbursement of such funds may be subject to meeting progress milestones, the absence of default, and/or other conditions generally consistent with similar affordable housing transactions. The PHA must confirm the availability of each party's financing, the amount and source of financing committed to the proposal by the parties, and the irrevocability of those funds.

(B) Irrevocability of funds. To ensure the irrevocable nature of the committed funds, the PHA shall review the legal documents committing such funds to ensure that the progress milestones and conditions precedent contained in such contracts are generally consistent with similar affordable housing transactions; that the PHA and/or its Owner Entity know of no impediments that would prevent the project from moving forward consistent with the project milestones and conditions precedent; and, after conducting sufficient due diligence, that such documents are properly executed by persons or entities legally authorized to bind the entity committing such funds.

(C) Third-party documents. The PHA is not required to ensure the availability of funds by enforcing documents to which it is not a party.

(D) Opinion of counsel. As part of the proposal, the PHA may certify as to the irrevocability of funds through the submission of an opinion of the PHA's counsel attesting that counsel has examined the availability of the participating parties' financing, and the amount and source of financing committed to the project by the participating parties, and has determined that such financing has been irrevocably committed, as defined in paragraph (a)(6)(iii)(A) of this section, and that such commitments are consistent with the project budget submitted under paragraph (a)(6)(i) of this section.

(7) Operating pro-forma/Operating Fund methodology. To allow HUD to assess the financial feasibility of projects, PHAs shall submit a 10-year operating pro-forma, including all assumptions, to assure that operating expenses do not exceed operating income. For mixed-finance development, the PHA must describe its methodology for providing and distributing operating subsidy to the Owner Entity for the public housing units.

(8) Local Cooperation Agreement. A PHA may elect to exempt all public housing units in a mixed-finance project from the payment in lieu of taxes provisions under section 6(d) of the Act, 42 U.S.C. 1437d(d), and from the finding of need and cooperative agreement provisions under sections 5(e)(1)(ii) and (e)(2) of the Act, 42 U.S.C. 1437c(e)(1)(ii) and (e)(2), and instead subject units to local real estate taxes, but only if the PHA provides documentation from an authorized official of the local jurisdiction that development of the units is consistent with the jurisdiction's comprehensive housing affordability strategy. If the PHA does not elect this exemption, the Cooperation Agreement as provided in § 905.602(a) is required and must be submitted.

(9) Environmental requirements. The PHA must provide an approved Request for Release of Funds and environmental certification, submitted in accordance with 24 CFR part 58, or approval in accordance with 24 CFR part 50. HUD will not approve a development proposal without the appropriate environmental approval.

(10) Market analysis. For a mixed-finance development that includes nonpublic housing units, the PHA must include an analysis of the projected market for the proposed project.

(11) Program income and fees. The PHA must provide information identifying fees to be paid to the PHA, the PHA's partner(s), the Owner Entity, and/or other participating parties identified by HUD and on the receipt and use of program income.

(b) Additional HUD-requested information. PHAs are required to provide any additional information that HUD may need to assess the development proposal.