RFP- Rural Rental Housing Preservation Academy Grant

The RFP for the Rural Rental Housing Preservation Academy offers no-cost training sessions aimed at empowering rural housing providers to acquire and preserve affordable housing financed by USDA, HUD, and LIHTC. Participants will engage in peer learning, receive targeted technical assistance, and access expert guidance tailored to their needs. This initiative seeks to enhance the preservation of affordable housing opportunities, particularly those with rental assistance, in rural communities across the region.

NOTE: TA cohort members must commit to attending all sessions.
About the Academy
The Academy is a series of no-cost training and peer learning sessions designed to help rural housing providers acquire and/or preserve USDA Rural Development (RD), HUD and LIHTC financed housing in their respective communities. Training sessions will be open to existing owners/operators interested in preserving their properties or parties interested in acquisition for the purpose of preservation of property affordability. The Academy sessions will span from basic introduction and overview of RD, HUD and LIHTC programs to exploring financing options and new financing models. Enterprise will bring in experts and practitioners that have proven success in preserving units and are thinking outside the box when it comes to funding to help deliver the training sessions. All training sessions will be held virtually. Attendance to any of the academy sessions is available to any interested stakeholders.
Through this call for applications, Enterprise is accepting applications from organizations to form a cohort of participants in the Preservation Academy. Up to fifteen organizations will be selected as members of the Preservation Academy Cohort. In addition to the delivery of the trainings, cohort members will receive no-cost, targeted, one-on-one technical assistance to support rural preservation efforts. The assistance will be tailored to the needs of the recipient based on what their goals are and the support they identify in being critical to move their project forward.
Examples of potential technical assistance include:
Developing strategies on how to best approach transaction(s).Supporting the preparation of application materials and templates for the transfer application.Assessing rents as compared to conventional rents for comparable units (CRCU) and developing operational budgets, which can result in a plan for sustainable occupancy and a long-term management strategy.Preparing the preliminary assessment tool for Rural Development’s underwriting purposes based off developer pro forma and assumptions.Supporting developers as they work through regulatory or procedural issues that arise during the transfer process.
The overall goal of the Preservation Academy is the preservation of affordable housing opportunities, especially those with Rental Assistance, in rural communities throughout the region.