DED awards block grant for Bolivar rental homes

The city will receive $249,800 through the Missouri Department of Economic Development, though the grant is contingent on the project also being awarded low-income housing tax credits by the Missouri Housing Development Commission.

The funds will be used to construct 30 single-family rental homes in the Monarch Landing subdivision, said Marie Carmichael, president of Affordable Homes Development, the project’s developer. The homes will be leased to families earning 60 percent of the median income in Polk County.

The city already is in need of affordable housing, Carmichael said, noting an Affordable Homes Development market study that showed a 0 percent vacancy rate. That lack of housing will be further strained when the $90 million Simon Square commercial development in Bolivar creates an anticipated 714 full-time jobs, she said.

“The economy is clearly moving there,” she said. “The idea is that … if you support that economic development with affordable housing, then that allows workers to come in and take those entry-level jobs.”

Carmichael said the project proposal will be submitted to the MHDC next week to obtain tax credits and a loan for the remainder of the cost, which she was unable to disclose at press time.

The Community Development Block Grant program provides economic development grants and loan funds to cities with populations less than 50,000 and counties with populations less than 200,000.