More than $26 million in federal disaster recovery money – which was previously allocated but left unspent – is being newly awarded to a series of affordable housing developments in the Houston and Galveston areas.
The Texas General Land Office (GLO) announced Monday that 15 projects in the south and southeast portions of the state are receiving a total of more than $45 million in Disaster Recovery Reallocation Program funds. The money is going to Cameron, Galveston, Harris, Hidalgo and Jefferson counties.
The funding being reallocated to Galveston and Harris counties was left over from previously awarded grants in response to Hurricanes Dolly and Ike in 2008 as well as Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Years after those disasters, the deadlines for spending that federal grant money are approaching, according to Texas GLO spokesperson Brittany Eck, who said unused funds are likely to be reclaimed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
"We're putting a bow on all of these different grants by trying to make sure every last penny goes toward meeting the needs of these communities that are repeatedly affected by these disasters," she said. "The impetus now is making sure we use it before we lose it, making sure it goes to a really good cause."
Among the $45 million being reallocated by the GLO, the largest award is $10 million for Bernicia Place, a multifamily housing development in south Houston. The money will help fund the construction of 120 housing units across two buildings that are designed to serve elderly residents.
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The other award for Harris County is $1.5 million to rehabilitate the failing water and sewer systems at the 30-unit Lincoln Courts apartments in Baytown. That money is part of the leftover funds from the federal grant issued in response to Hurricanes Dolly and Ike in 2008.
So is the money going to two of the three projects awarded in Galveston County, which was significantly impacted by Ike in 2008. Nearly $7 million is being reallocated to the Galveston Housing Authority to rehabilitate a total of 376 units at the Gulf Breeze, Holland House and Oaks I properties, while another $859,000 will fund drainage improvements at The Oleanders on Broadway, a new 348-unit development that replaces 174 affordable housing units that were lost during Ike.
In response to Harvey in 2017, the Galveston Housing Authority is also getting more than $6.8 million to repair water damage at Villas on the Strand.
Eck, with the Texas GLO, said all the aforementioned developments are geared toward residents with low to moderate incomes. The Oleanders at Broadway previously benefited from federal disaster recovery funds, with the new award helping to fund additional drainage improvements, she said.
There is no federal deadline for using the grant money awarded in response to Dolly and Ike in 2008, according to Eck, who said the recovery funds tied to Harvey in 2017 must be spent by August 2028.
As more previously awarded funds become available because they are no longer needed, Eck said the Texas GLO said will continue seeking qualified recipients and reallocating the money "until it is all gone or the deadline passes." Priority is given to projects that are "shovel-ready," she said, and community input is a factor.
"This isn't the GLO saying, ‘We think you should do this project,'" Eck said. "This is the community saying, ‘These are projects we'd like to be funded.' "
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