(Atlantic) Community Development Block Grant funding continues to spur downtown revitalization in rural Iowa Communities, and a recent project at 509 Chestnut Street in Atlantic is nearing completion.
Communication Coordinator Chris Parks says the project is a two-bedroom, one-story upper-story apartment. SWIPCO assisted the building owner in applying for the upper-story CDBG in the fall of 2021, and the project was awarded $ 199,999 in CDBG funding in 2022, with $243,209 in matching funds provided by the owner. The units are nearing completion and must be rented to a low to moderate-income tenant for five years, with maximum allowable rents set in the HOME program.
Parks says the Upper Story Housing Conversion program is part of a federal initiative to provide more available and affordable housing in geographical areas of need. The program assists in converting existing downtown building space into new residential units.
The building was one of seven on Chestnut Street, between the Fourth, and Sixth blocks in downtown Atlantic, assisted with the downtown façade program in 2020. The buildings updated their front facades, including tuckpointing, painting, windows, etc., with a collaboration of 50 percent CDBG, 25 percent City, and 25 percent owner funding.
For more information on Downtowner Revitalization or Upper Story Housing Conversion CDBG grants, don’t hesitate to contact SWIPCO at 712-243-4196.
