Affordable Housing Program grants awarded to local projects

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas, in partnership with its member financial institutions, on Tuesday announced the award of $7.8 million in Affordable Housing Program grants for 27 projects, primarily within its five-state district, including two in Hot Springs.

A news release said a grant of $49,000 was awarded for seven owner units to Garland County Habitat for Humanity by FHLB Dallas and Bank of the Ozarks, while a grant of $224,000 was awarded for 32 rental units to McGrew Properties by BancorpSouth Bank.

FHLB Dallas annually returns 10 percent of its profits in the form of AHP grants to the communities served by its member institutions, a news release said.

AHP funding is utilized for a variety of projects, including home rehabilitation and modifications for low-income, elderly, and special-needs residents; down payment and closing-cost assistance for qualified first-

time homebuyers; and the construction of low-income, multifamily rental communities and single-family homes, it said.

“FHLB Dallas’ member institutions are an integral part of affordable housing development in their communities,” FHLB Dallas President and CEO Sanjay Bhasin said in the release.

“Their membership in the Bank opens the door to the AHP and other grant programs that annually provide millions of dollars for housing in our district.”

The 2016 grants will result in the creation or rehabilitation of 1,499 housing units within FHLB Dallas’ District of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Texas, as well as one state outside of FHLB Dallas’ District in which its members do business, the release said.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 11 district banks in the FHLBank System created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with total assets of $54.4 billion as of June 30, is a member-owned cooperative that supports housing and community development by providing competitively priced loans and other credit products to approximately 850 members and associated institutions in the five-state area.