Land Banking

The Land Banking program provides grants to eligible local or tribal governments and forgivable loans to eligible nonprofits with a demonstrated history of providing affordable housing. These funds must be used to acquire and preserve land for affordable for-sale housing or affordable rental housing. Mixed use may be allowed so long as the predominate use is affordable housing.

Program Benefits	• Grants to eligible local and tribal governments, including public housing authorities • Forgivable loans to eligible nonprofits • Good faith efforts may be used for consideration of extensions.
Eligible Recipients	• Local and tribal governments • Nonprofits
Eligible Projects	• Acquisition and preservation of land for the development of affordable for-sale housing homeownership, and mixed use if the predominate use is affordable housing. • Commercial or mixed-use development, including non-restricted housing, is eligible provided that the predominant use (70%) is affordable. Projects proposing between 51% and 69% of the project to be utilized as affordable may apply with justification. • New money transactions will be prioritized over a refinance or addressing financing gaps on existing projects
Program Allocation	15% to 25% of Affordable Housing Financing Fund (AHFF) allocation
Area Median Incomes (AMIs) Served	• Rental: Households earning 60% AMI and below • Homeownership: Households earning 100% AMI and below • Rural resort communities may petition the Colorado Division of Housing to use more flexible income requirements.
Maximum Grant or Loan Financing	Lesser of $5 million or appraised value
Interest Rates and Fees	• Forgivable loans bear a deferred interest rate of 2.0%; no interest due if milestones are achieved • Standard loan and grant closing costs apply. • Environmental Report required for transactions over $750,000
Forgivable Loan Terms	• Proper zoning and development plan within 5 years • Permitted and funded within 10 years
Forgivable Loan Conditions	• If specified milestones are not achieved by 5 and 10 years, the forgivable loan plus interest must be repaid within 6 months unless the land is conveyed to a state agency or other entity for the development of affordable housing with the approval of CHFA. • Non-performance could impact future awards. • Upon repayment of the loan plus deferred interest, the property may be developed for any purpose.
Grant Conditions	If specified milestones are not achieved by 5 and 10 years, the grant must be repaid within 6 months
Priorities	• High-density housing • Mixed-income housing • Environmental sustainability – Updated sustainability standards; please see guidelines for details (PDF)

This chart is intended only to highlight certain program requirements. Loans and grants are subject to other requirements, including the CHFA Credit Policy and applicable operating and replacement reserve requirements. More details can be found in the Land Banking Program Guidelines (PDF).

CHFA and OEDIT accepted Letters of Intent (LOIs) for the fiscal year 22-23 Land Banking program funds from July 18th to August 21st. In fiscal year 22-23, approximately $24.5M was allocated to the Land Banking program. CHFA received 113 LOIs representing more than $255M in funding requests (PDF). Given the significant demand for funds from the Land Banking Program, CHFA and OEDIT have determined that a competitive application round for the fiscal year 2022-2023 funding round will be required. Twenty-six LOI submissions representing $46.9M were invited to apply (PDF).

The application window has closed for the Land Banking program.

Those not invited to apply at this time will have the opportunity to submit an LOI for consideration for the 23-24 fiscal year, details of which will be announced as soon as possible.

Application and Award Timeline

July 18, 2023	CHFA will begin accepting LOIs.
August 21, 2023	LOI submission closes at 11:59pm MT.
September 11, 2023	Based on demand, LOI respondents will be notified of competitive or rolling application process and application next steps.
November 1, 2023	The application submission closes at 11:59pm MT.
December/January	Awards announced, pending volume received