Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grants Program | FR 6300 N 38

Opportunity Information: Apply for FR 6300 N 38

The Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grants Program is a discretionary grant opportunity from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) designed to help communities that are grappling with severely distressed public housing or other HUD-assisted housing. HUD set aside up to $5,000,000 total for this round of planning grants, with the goal of helping local partners create a realistic, community-backed neighborhood transformation plan and build the relationships, engagement, and local capacity needed to carry that plan through to implementation. The program sits within HUDs broader housing and community development work and is identified under CFDA 14.892.

HUD offered two related grant types under this notice. The first option, Planning Grants, provides a two-year funding period focused on planning and coalition-building. These grants are meant to support the work that has to happen before large-scale redevelopment or revitalization can succeed, such as organizing stakeholders, engaging residents, assessing neighborhood needs and market conditions, coordinating cross-sector partners, and translating all of that into a coherent transformation plan for both the target housing and the surrounding neighborhood. The underlying idea is that long-term neighborhood change is much more likely when the plan is carefully developed, widely supported, and paired with a strong implementation strategy and partnerships that can attract additional resources later.

The second option, Planning and Action Grants, extends the grant term to three and a half years and intentionally combines planning with early, tangible improvements. HUDs rationale is that communities often gain traction when residents and partners can see real progress early, rather than waiting years for a plan to turn into visible results. Under this structure, the first 24 months are still dedicated to the planning process, but that planning is expected to identify specific Action Activities that will be carried out during the latter portion of the grant period. Those Action Activities are not meant to be random quick fixes; they must directly build on the planning work for the target housing and neighborhood and serve as momentum-building steps that increase neighborhood confidence, strengthen participation, attract additional partners and investment, and demonstrate to skeptical stakeholders that meaningful change is achievable.

From an applicant and competition standpoint, HUD anticipated making about 6 awards, with an award ceiling of $1,300,000 per grant. The opportunity was posted under Funding Opportunity Number FR 6300 N 38, categorized as a discretionary grant. While the eligibility label is listed as "Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification)," the key takeaway is that applicants needed to fit HUDs specific eligibility requirements described in the full notice. Applications were required to be submitted electronically by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the deadline date. For this round, the opportunity was created on April 10, 2019, and the original closing date was June 10, 2019.

Overall, this funding opportunity is best understood as front-end investment in planning and readiness for neighborhood-scale transformation in places where housing distress is severe. The standard Planning Grant supports the groundwork and alignment needed to move toward implementation, while the Planning and Action Grant adds a structured way to deliver early on-the-ground actions after the planning phase, helping sustain community energy and set the stage for a stronger transition into later implementation funding and long-term revitalization efforts.

• The US Department of Housing and Urban Development in the housing sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grants Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 14.892.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 10, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 10, 2019 Electronically submitted applications must be submitted no later than 1159 p.m., ET, on the listed application due date.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $1,300,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 6 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for FR 6300 N 38

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