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New Hampshire businesses back $100 million housing plan

By Holly Ramer
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CONCORD — Some business owners struggling to hire workers are lining up behind Gov. Chris Sununu’s plan to use $100 million in federal funds to increase the state’s housing stock.

In the two months since Sununu announced the initiative, the state’s unemployment rate has fallen to 2.5 percent while the vacancy rate for a two-bedroom apartment fell to under 1 percent. That’s been tough on companies like Boyce Highlands, which makes architectural moldings in Concord and recently acquired a lumber company in Brentwood.

“Our plan in five years is to double the size of that operation, but with very limited housing, it’s very difficult to attract good quality workers,” co-owner Brien Murphy said at a news conference Wednesday.

While New Hampshire is one of the region’s fastest growing states, the lack of affordable housing continues to be an obstacle, said Taylor Caswell, commissioner of the Department of Business and Economic Affairs.

“This program that we’re talking about today is a once-in-a-lifetime investment of $100 million into a situation that is really at the crux of our economic future,” he said.

Half of the total would go to developers of multifamily projects with at least five units, with preference given to projects aimed at lower- and middle-income workers. Another $40 million would go to towns and cities, including $30 million to encourage them to approve projects quickly. Towns would get $10,000 for each unit approved within six months of a permit application, with a maximum grant of $1 million per community. Another $10 million would help communities update zoning regulations or demolish vacant, dilapidated buildings. The fund would be paid for with federal American Rescue Plan money that Sununu once opposed.

More than than $11 billion from the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds has been committed to housing-related programs nationwide, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Elsewhere, Massachusetts has allotted nearly $600 million to affordable housing, Colorado lawmakers have proposed spending $400 million and Washington, D.C., has set aside $323 million.

Pending approval by the Legislature’s fiscal committee Friday, the goal is to increase the number of housing units in New Hampshire by thousands in the next year or so, Sununu said. The application period would open in June.

“You could do $10 million, it’s not going to make a dent. $50 million, you’re barely touching the surface. Even $100 million is only really getting us started toward where we need to be, but it’s an awesome start,” he said. “It really allows everyone to participate I think at a very aggressive level over the next 12 to 18 months.”

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