At its monthly meeting, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) Board of Directors approved $500,000 in grants to support seven local planning initiatives and development projects which address the need for more housing near transit areas, affordable to those with lower incomes. The grants were awarded through the COG Housing Affordability Planning Program (HAPP), supported by funding from the Amazon Housing Equity Fund.

HAPP awards small, flexible grants up to $75,000 to area local governments or non-profit housing developers engaged in the planning, approval, or development of housing near transit stations. The winning proposals will serve diverse communities across the region—six of the projects will create new rental housing units with long-term affordability restrictions, while one proposal will address the need for long-term affordable homeownership opportunities.

“Housing affordability—across all income levels—is essential to the vitality of our region. Creative partnerships such as the HAPP grant program help advance our region’s top priorities to ensure all residents in metropolitan Washington have the opportunity to thrive. I was proud to join the rest of COG Board in approving these projects.” said Kate Stewart, COG Board Chair and Montgomery County Councilmember.

At the COG Board meeting, it was announced that the Amazon Housing Equity Fund has committed additional funding for a third round of HAPP.

“We’re proud to support COG for the second year in a row, and I’m also happy to announce that the Amazon Housing Equity Fund has committed to fully funding the HAPP grant program in 2024.  We’re looking forward to both recognizing the 2023 grant awardees, and to seeing what comes in housing innovation and equitable development in the new year,” said KellyAnn Kirkpatrick, Senior Project Manager for the Amazon Housing Equity Fund.

In 2019, the COG Board adopted three regional housing targets calling for at least 75,000 additional housing units by 2030 beyond the 245,000 new units already anticipated, at least 75 percent of the units in Activity Centers or High-Capacity Transit Station Areas (HCTs), and at least 75 percent of the units affordable to low-and-middle income households.

Five of the winning proposals are in a COG-designated Activity Center, six proposals are near High-Capacity Transit Station Areas (HCTs), and three proposals will serve residents in Equity Emphasis Areas (EEAs). The COG Board has endorsed HCTs and EEAs as key concepts to inform regional planning and future growth and investment decisions.

In addition to the region’s housing targets, these projects also support climate, equity, and transit priorities featured in COG’s Region United: Metropolitan Washington Planning Framework for 2030.

A selection panel of housing experts reviewed and scored the applications for the grant funding.

MORE: Presentation to the COG Board on the 2023 HAPP Grant Awardees