Published on January 14, 2025
Interior view of Milagro on Oracle Unit
The City of Tucson and Pima County received a highly competitive $7 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to reduce regulatory and financing barriers to producing and preserving affordable housing in the region. This grant will advance regional policy goals of reducing poverty over the long term. Eighteen grants were awarded nationwide.
“The City of Tucson is an example of how cities are innovating to create housing affordability,” said Tucson Mayor Regina Romero. “Since becoming Mayor, I have been working to change the systems and structures to deliver relief for Tucsonans struggling to find an affordable place to live. I am grateful to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Biden-Harris administration, and our Congressional delegation for making it possible for communities like Tucson to compete for these resources to address the rising cost of housing and bring safety and stability to people.”
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Pathways to Reducing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing) program supports communities that are actively taking steps to remove barriers to affordable housing. The Tucson-Pima Regional PRO Housing Initiative, which includes partnerships between the City of Tucson, Pima County, and the Arizona Research Center for Housing Equity and Sustainability (ARCHES), received the maximum award possible through the PRO Housing program. Strong regional collaboration was among the grant’s criteria.
“When I along with my fellow Board members voted to adopt the Prosperity Initiative policies, I said that reducing generational poverty across this county should be a priority at all levels of government,” said Board of Supervisors Chair Rex Scott. “It is also morally imperative that we improve access for low-income families to many of the opportunities afforded to families in higher income neighborhoods. This is an excellent example of the City, County and Federal governments working together to address the affordable housing crisis and reduce generational poverty in an evidence-based manner.”
Since 2019, housing in Tucson and Pima County has become dramatically more expensive and supply has not kept pace with demand. Home sales prices have increased by 68% and rental prices have increased by 48% since 2019, while average household income in the region only increased by 22%.
Over the past few years, the City and County have delivered policy changes and investment to address the region’s housing needs, such as zoning changes, allowing more types of housing, and expediting permitting. The Housing Affordability Strategy for Tucson was created in 2021 and is a guiding policy document for the City. It has been updated annually, including most recently earlier this month. In 2022, the City and County established a joint task force to develop a deeper understanding of poverty in the region, which resulted in the Prosperity Initiative; thirteen policy recommendations that include increasing housing supply, mobility, opportunity, and stability. These recommendations were adopted by the Pima County Board of Supervisors in December 2023 and Tucson Mayor and Council in January 2024.
The City of Tucson and Pima County have demonstrated deep commitment to addressing housing affordability. Along with millions in local funding from Tucson Mayor and Council and the Pima County Board of Supervisors, the City and County have proactively sought and secured well over $100 million in competitive Federal, State, and private funding for housing and shelter initiatives since 2022.
While both the City and County have taken decisive action to reduce barriers to and spur affordable housing development in the region, more action is needed – particularly in areas of low poverty and high opportunity. With PRO Housing grant funding, the Tucson-Pima Regional PRO Housing Initiative will provide resources to initiate regulatory reforms that facilitate more housing in low poverty and high opportunity locations, as well as provide support for affordable housing development through funding and technical assistance. Activities outlined in the grant include:
Zoning reforms to remove barriers to housing
Tiny homes and missing middle housing resources
City and County affordable housing team capacity building
Capacity building for small-scale infill developers
Impact fee subsidies and gap funding for affordable housing development
Development of housing on City-owned parcels
Increased community support for affordable housing
The grant will be managed by the City of Tucson Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), with grant activities conducted by HCD, City of Tucson Planning and Community Development (PDSD), Pima County Development Services, and Pima County Community and Workforce Development. Additionally, ARCHES will conduct an independent evaluation of the programs created with this funding to document outcomes, supporting data-driven decision-making for continuation or modification of programs after the grant funding has been expended.
“HUD’s PRO Housing program directly addresses the regulatory, procedural, and financial barriers to preserving and producing affordable housing that cities and regions have long-articulated,” said Ann Chanecka, Housing and Community Development Director for the City of Tucson. “In our application, we successfully demonstrated how severely our need has grown since the pandemic, along with sharing information about the solid, evidence-based strategic planning work we have done in our region to address these needs. This funding will give us a much-appreciated boost towards accelerating affordable housing production in our region.”
“Planning and Development Services is thrilled to be part of this collaborative effort to promote diverse housing options and deliver more housing to meet the needs of our community,” said Koren Manning, Interim Director of Planning and Development Services for the City of Tucson. “This critical funding will enable us to build on our community’s successful zoning reforms that have had a measurable impact creating housing in Tucson and enact further regulatory changes that remove barriers and expand housing opportunities for all.”
”We are thankful for the grant funding of additional planning assistance to examine our existing zoning code,” said Carla Blackwell, Director of Pima County Development Services. “We are striving to create housing opportunities throughout the region on commercial properties along key corridors and by removing code barriers to duplexes, triplexes and attached housing choices. Changing the code is step one, but projects will only be built by informing our development community of identified opportunities and making the process easy to navigate.”
This PRO Housing funding is for a six-year period through September 2030. Tucson and Pima County successfully demonstrated the acute need for housing affordable to households with incomes below 100 percent of the area median income, as well as demonstrating progress and a commitment to overcoming local barriers through improved laws and regulations. This need has been exacerbated in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. PRO Housing funding will facilitate making the systemic changes needed to create a more sustainable local economy for all Tucsonans for years to come.