Aldermen to take action on $1 million rental rehab plan

QUINCY — The Quincy City Council will consider adopting an ordinance at Monday’s meeting that would pump $1 million into improving rental housing on the city’s west side.

Aldermen heard the first reading for the Small Rental Rehabilitation Program (SRRP) at the Dec. 28 meeting. The plan would mirror the Downtown Rental Rehabilitation program that is already in place and offers assistance to developers who convert vacant upper floors of downtown buildings into apartments.

The program, which would offer a 50 percent match up to $20,000 to turn vacant homes into rental units. He said there is a high vacancy rate of housing stock west of 18th Street and much of that could be removed from the Fix or Flatten program.

The ordinance calls for creating a fund of $1 million. The city’s cost would not exceed 50 percent of the total cost of the rental unit. The property owner must first provide the documentation that shows funding in place and then the city would reimburse the developer up to $20,000 once the space is renovated, constructed or converted.

The money must be used for the labor and materials of the project and cannot go directly to the developer, who must also keep possession of the property for five years after completion or the city has to be repaid.

City Planner Chuck Bevelheimer documented the need below: