The County’s new $160-million Community Housing Fund is now up and running and ready to accept applications from developers looking to build affordable housing in Clark County.
“The Community Housing Fund will help address the rising cost of purchasing or renting a home by supporting affordable housing programs and developments in Southern Nevada,” Commission Chairman Jim Gibson said. “The launch of this fund is the latest significant step taken by the County to address the housing crisis here, and it gives us another tool to help residents stay housed.”
Since the onset of the pandemic two years ago, the County has made substantial investments in short- and long-term housing solutions to prevent evictions and homelessness, and to boost the availability of affordable housing in our community. Earlier this year, the County Commission approved plans to help fund seven affordable housing developments expected to create more than 600 apartments for low-income seniors or families; and County leaders are in ongoing negotiations with a developer to build more than 100 for-sale affordable homes in the southwest valley. Additionally, the County’s CHAP program has allocated more than $300 million to provide rent and/or utility assistance to more than 60,000 local households; and more than 2,300 homeless individuals have been temporarily housed in unused hotel or motel rooms.
The new Community Housing Fund will leverage partnerships and target investment opportunities to accelerate the development of permanent affordable housing for low- to moderate-income households. Developers interested in applying for Community Housing Funds are encouraged to visit www.ClarkCountyNV.gov/CommunityHousingFund for more information. Funds allocated from this first round of applications are expected to be used for the development or rehabilitation of multi-family rental housing, and possibly land acquisition for future affordable housing projects. County officials project that approximately $140 million could be allocated during this initial funding round, which could potentially support the construction of up to 4,000 new affordable housing units.
County officials believe there is currently a shortage of more than 85,000 homes for residents considered extremely low-income and very low-income, which means they earn less than 50 percent of area median income. (For example, a very low-income family of four would earn less than $37,500 a year.) The lack of affordable housing in Southern Nevada greatly affects residents who are working to escape homelessness and those at risk of becoming homeless.
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Clark County is a dynamic and innovative organization dedicated to providing top-quality service with integrity, respect and accountability. With jurisdiction over the world-famous Las Vegas Strip and covering an area the size of New Jersey, Clark is the nation’s 11th-largest county and provides extensive regional services to 2.3 million citizens and 45.6 million visitors a year (2019). Included are the nation’s 7th-busiest airport, air quality compliance, social services and the state’s largest public hospital, University Medical Center. The County also provides municipal services that are
