Program Year (PY) 2026 HOME/HOME-ARP Projects and CHDO Certification

Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners' Affordable Housing Services Department issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) on January 28, 2026, for Program Year 2026 HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) and HOME American Rescue Plan Program (HOME-ARP) projects with an optional Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) certification process. The procurement seeks competitive sealed proposals from experienced and qualified entities with proven track records in acquiring property to rehabilitate or convert to rental units, rehabilitating rental housing and homebuyer properties, constructing or reconstructing rental or homebuyer properties, and providing homeownership financial assistance. Eligible activities include acquisition and rehabilitation of both rental and homebuyer properties, new construction of multifamily rental and single-family homebuyer properties, and direct financial assistance to homebuyers, with individual funding requests capped between $300,000 and $2,000,000 and a total project estimate of $2,000,000. Proposals must be submitted electronically through the County's Euna Procurement system by February 25, 2026, at 2:00 PM Eastern Time, with written questions accepted no later than 14 calendar days after solicitation issuance. The program year runs from October 1, 2026, through September 30, 2027, with federal funds available after October 1, 2026, upon completion of environmental review and full agreement execution; projects must commence construction within twelve months of the executed funding agreement and be completed and occupied within two years. Evaluation criteria include organizational information and capacity (15 points), performance of past subrecipients or experience of new proposers (15 points), project timeline (10 points), ability to proceed and shovel-ready status (5 points), green energy design features (5 points), market study support (10 points), leveraging of non-County funds (20 points), and financial capacity (20 points), for a total of 100 points, with up to 10 bonus points available for projects within one mile of HART mass transit service or located in a Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area.

For HOME funding, proposers must be nonprofit entities in good standing with Florida for a minimum of two years with prior involvement in local or state funded affordable housing programs, while HOME-ARP eligible proposers may be nonprofit or for-profit entities with experience administering federally funded affordable housing programs and prior funding partnerships with local jurisdictions. The County is required to set aside fifteen percent of the HOME allocation for CHDO-certified entities, though all applications are reviewed and ranked equally; applicants seeking CHDO certification must comply with additional governance and organizational requirements including board composition standards requiring at least one-third representation from low-income community residents. HOME funds target extremely low to moderate income households at or below eighty percent of area median income, while HOME-ARP funds require that at least seventy percent of beneficiaries be "qualified persons" (homeless, at-risk of homelessness, or fleeing domestic violence) with a minimum of ten units per project. Proposers must demonstrate financial stability, internal controls, and responsible stewardship of prior government funding, and must not appear on the federal Excluded Parties List System or have unresolved compliance findings from prior Hillsborough County projects; developer fees may not exceed 15 percent of the total award. All projects located in unincorporated Hillsborough County, Plant City, or Temple Terrace are eligible, and proposers must comply with federal regulations including Davis-Bacon Act prevailing wage requirements for projects exceeding $2,000 with 12 or more units, E-Verify employment eligibility verification, lead-based paint hazard requirements for pre-1978 housing, Build America Buy America Act requirements, and Section 3 compliance.