The Mississippi Development Authority’s Long Term Workforce Housing Program has been established to help create affordable workforce housing largely for the counties of Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson that were adversely affected by Hurricane Katrina.

The program is part of the Homeowner Assistance Grant Program, and its budget is $241 million, or $350 million when administrative cost is taken into consideration. The program works to help individuals with low or moderate income, destroy or prevent slums or blight, and assist communities with a need for fast help due to an immediate threat to the well being of the residents living there.

The action plan of the program outlines its most prominent goals and the methods that will be employed to reach them. It defines Long Term Workforce Housing as housing that helps households who make 120% of the Area Median Income or less.

Nearly 9,000 families as of 2008 were still living in trailers provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after being displaced by hurricane Katrina, three years after it occurred. Most of these people currently had incomes below the 120% mark of the Area Median Income. One of the main goals of the Long Term Workforce Housing Program was to help these people find permanent housing.

In order to decide which individuals, businesses, and charities should receive assistance, the Development Authority created a point system based on several factors.

One criteria is practicality of whether the amount requested was reasonable for the good done. Bonuses were the ability of the individuals or organization to receive additional financing from other sources or provide some of the funding.

Other criterion was based on the plans, environmental friendliness, varied incomes of individuals helped by the proposed project, and the location of the project.  For example, it is favorable to be close to such amenities as downtown districts, employment centers, schools, public transportation, hospitals, fire stations, and police stations, and unfavorable to be near power plants and heavy industrial areas.

Applicants should also focus on the need for the project, the efficiency of the proposed schedule, the experience of the workers (including resumes for all team members), and the support of the community.

The program also works to ensure that a fair number of the contracts go to minority and woman’s businesses.

The first of the 16 classes will take place Monday, October 13^th in Biloxi, MS and will continue on through October 30^th at locations in Gulfport, Saucier, Biloxi, Long Beach, Gautier, Picayune, Bay St Louis and Pascagoula. Every class will be managed by MDA staff who can properly explain to investors if the SRAP program will be a good fit for them.

Jon Mabry (Chief Operations Officer for the Mississippi Development Authority Disaster Recovery Division) has said they have worked on making the second round of the SRAP much easier for people to comprehend. He also said they will put a special emphasis on the applications that are actually helping to rebuild housing in the places that were the hardest hit by Katrina.

In order to be accepted the applicant’s property must be in one of the following counties; Harrison, Jackson, Hancock and Pearl River.

The program will provide 5 year forgivable loans up to $40k per unit, and there will be rules that the applicant must abide by for the term of the loan.

The form to apply for the Small Rental Assistance Program will be on the MDA’s site on October 15^th.

Approximately $6.5 million has been approved and closings have started. This money is going to help build close to 200 new construction homes (being bought by GO Zone investors). Please keep in mind that this area of the Mississippi GO Zone lost the majority of it’s housing stock in the hurricane and if you consider all the new jobs coming the area it’s going to still be short of the necessary housing.

Gary Swoope of the MDA has been quoted as saying that he thinks the program will proceed rapidly now which is obviously great news for GO Zone Gateway clients that have put their selves in position for the next round. (If you haven’t it’s not too late)

The Small Rental Assistance Program (SRAP) was established to provide forgivable loans for property that was renovated due to storm damage and the construction of new construction homes in a few select counties in the ravaged part of the Mississippi GO Zone. A total of $262 million has been alloted to the MDA to fund this program. The goal is to build approximately 7,000 GO Zone qualified rental properties in the Mississippi lower coastal counties.

The SRAP is essentially a 5 year program in the form a forgivable loan. In addition to the incredible tax incentives being offered the the federal government, the GO Zone Gateway investor can also apply for the SRAP program and receive up to $40k per unit ($80k per duplex) if they sign an agreement with the MDA agreeing to follow the program’s guidelines.

We have helped many investors get qualified for the 1st round and we are working very closely with the MDA. If you have questions on this program feel free to call us.

I was a little surprised when I read article, because there were some facts that were incorrect and could mislead anyone who hasn’t spent the time that I have researching the Mississippi Small Rental Assistance Program and the 50% GO Zone Bonus Depreciation.

The meat of the article is about out-of-state investors that are in limbo in regards to qualifying for the program due to elevation requirements. This is definitely true. There are a number of GO Zone properties that are not going to qualify for the program because they are at a low elevation such as 13 feet. What was wrong with this article however was that it made it seem as if they will not qualify because of changes made by the MDA. New construction, which is option D for the program, has always been built to the D Firm elevation maps. This is something that few people know. D Firm elevation maps actually favor investors majority of the time, as they are less stringent that the FEMA ABFE maps.

Bayside Park is a scattered lot development that has various heights. Some of our lot surveys have come back as low as 13 feet, or as high as 17 feet. There are also different zones to the maps. To view the D Firm evaluation maps for requirements visit http://geology.deq.ms.gov/floodmaps/status.aspx.

These investors are in an unfortunate situation, because it was the developer/agent that led them not to qualify, not the Mississippi Development Authority. I do think that the program could have been handled better initially, but since Horne LLP and Waggoner engineering have taken over in January, things have been much better. Both firms are very cooperative, and even return my phone calls to make sure that all of my questions have been answered for our investors.

The GO Zone is one of the best opportunities out there for real estate investors and I think it is a shame that the author didn’t really do his homework, but instead wrote a sensationalized article. It is important that investors conduct their own due diligence and use representation. My advice to any investor is GET IT IN WRITING. All of our contracts with developers have 3 important things. 1) This property will be built the Small Rental Assistance Program elevation requirements and will meet or exceed the D Firm elevation maps. 2) The developer will contribute $4,000 towards closing costs to cover the construction interest. 3) The developer will provide a 2-10 warranty for this property to ensure the quality of workmanship.

My personal feeling is that the media should be writing articles about how the state has had these federally issued funds for 2 years (if not more) and not even a penny has been distributed yet. People have been living in glorified tents (FEMA trailers) for coming on 3 years. Has anyone seen an article written about that?

If you have questions about the Mississippi Small Rental Assistance Program (SRAP) or the GO Zone and you want real answers you can contact me at 561-404-7375.

Skyler More – GO Zone Gateway

JACKSON — Representatives of the Mississippi Development Authority told lawmakers Thursday that despite the bureaucratic federal regulations, the state is poised to make significant progress on the post-Katrina housing crisis soon.Gray Swoope, executive director of MDA, said Thursday in a meeting with the Mississippi House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee that a major hurdle in the process would likely be cleared on Friday.

The state is spending a portion of $5.4 billion in federal Community Development Block Grants on housing.

The state will receive a verdict Friday on the complicated environmental assessments that are needed so two key housing programs can move forward. Agencies are expected to approve plans for the small rental program, which would create up to 7,500 small rental homes in less than a year, and also the elevation grant program, which gives homeowners money to raise their home to meet the new FEMA flood zones regulations.

MDA has turned its attention recently to the later phases of Gov. Haley Barbour’s housing plan, which aims to deliver about 21,000 total units, including the 7,500 proposed small rental units.

“If we continue this year on the path that we are on, and add 20,000 units, we will get over the hump pretty quickly,” Swoope said.

Swoope, who met with lawmakers, said the process has been difficult for his office as there hasn’t been enough workers to handle all of the duties the unprecedented programs entail, but recently he has added more staff to help.

The Sun Herald will have more on this story in Friday’s paper.