Sponsors
The bill can expand affordable and mixed‑use housing by transferring unused federal land to state and local agencies, but it shifts cleanup, infrastructure, planning costs and risks to taxpayers and local governments and is limited by a five‑year pilot that creates investment uncertainty.
Low-income individuals and renters may gain more affordable housing units because state and local agencies can receive unused federal land that is prioritized for affordable housing.
State and local planners and small businesses get a new, lower-cost tool for pursuing mixed-use development by using conveyed federal land instead of buying expensive private parcels.
Local governments and neighborhoods may see faster reuse of vacant federal buildings and land, reducing blight and encouraging neighborhood revitalization.
Taxpayers could face significant costs for conveyance-related environmental cleanup, infrastructure upgrades, or site preparation to make transferred federal properties developable.
Local and state governments may incur added fiscal and planning burdens to absorb, prepare, and complete development on transferred properties within the pilot timeframe.
The program's five-year pilot and sunset could create uncertainty for long-term projects, deterring investment or slowing development timelines.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Creates a competitive pilot for local housing planning grants, implementation grants, and low‑interest loans, and a GSA pilot to transfer unused federal property for affordable/mixed‑use housing.
Creates a competitive pilot program to provide planning grants, implementation grants, and low‑interest direct loans to state and local entities to develop, evaluate, and carry out local housing policy plans that increase housing supply, affordability, and accessibility while reducing displacement. Grants require non‑Federal matching funds on a sliding scale by jurisdiction population and at least 20% of awards must go to entities serving rural or exurban areas. Directs the General Services Administration to run a separate pilot to convey unused Federal real property to eligible state or local entities for mixed‑use neighborhoods or affordable housing development; agencies must transfer unused property to GSA first, and the conveyance authority sunsets five years after enactment.
Introduced January 31, 2025 by Patrick Ryan · Last progress January 31, 2025