$4M total fund
The Housing Capacity Building Program provides financial and technical support to strengthen the organizational, operational, and development capacity of housing developers, publicly sponsored agencies, and nonprofit organizations engaged in housing delivery within DeKalb County. The program is intended to support and expand the local housing delivery ecosystem, reduce barriers to participation, and enable mission-driven and public entities to execute complex housing initiatives efficiently and at scale. The fund is expected to leverage approximately $40–$60 million in downstream housing investment.
How It Works
- Interested parties submit an application to Decide DeKalb
- Selections are approved by the Decide DeKalb Board of Directors
- Participation in cohort-based training
- Project concept development and technical assistance
- Eligibility for predevelopment funding
- Advancement into development pipeline
Who is Eligible
All participants must hold fee simple title to the subject property and must be located in DeKalb County. Additionally, the following categories are eligible for the Housing Capacity Seed Fund program:
- Nonprofit and Community Organizations
- Faith-Based Organizations engaged in housing development or community development activities may apply
- Public Agencies that play a role in housing development or redevelopment activities may apply
- Anchor Institutions are defined as large place-based entities located in DeKalb County whose long-term presence and institutional resources position them to support housing solutions and community development initiatives
- Development Partnerships: Joint ventures or partnerships between eligible organizations may apply. Partnerships may include collaborations between
The Housing Capacity Seed Fund will include three (3) cohorts:
- DeKalb Land to Legacy Initiative: A faith-based development cohort for organizations that are interested in redeveloping their surplus and/or vacant land for mixed-use or residential development.
- NSIDE = Neighborhood Scale Incremental Development Education: focuses on Residents, small investors, and local entrepreneurs, with a focus on incremental development and small-scale phased projects.
- DeKalb Land Bank Capacity Building Initiative: focuses on strengthening land disposition processes and increasing access to land for development.
Eligible Uses of Funds
Program funding may be used to strengthen the organizational capacity and development readiness of eligible applicants. Eligible activities may include the following.
- Organizational Capacity Development
- Hiring or supporting housing development staff
- Organizational strategic planning
- Financial management system improvements
- Legal and accounting services
- Board governance training
- Development training and professional certification
- Organizational infrastructure improvements
- Housing Development Capacity
- Predevelopment planning activities
- Site feasibility analysis
- Market studies
- Environmental assessments
- Conceptual architectural design
- Financial modeling and development underwriting
- Zoning and land use analysis
- Development consulting services
- Institutional Housing Initiatives: Funding may support housing initiatives undertaken by faith-based institutions, anchor institutions, and public agencies.
- Development Partnerships: Funding may support the creation of development partnerships including joint venture structuring, development team formation, partnership agreements, and legal structuring of development entities.
- Technical Assistance and Training: Program resources may also support training and technical assistance activities including housing finance training, development underwriting training, construction management training, compliance and regulatory training, and development project management training.
How to Apply
Applications are anticipated to launch in Spring 2027.