Macon‑Bibb Affordable Housing Fund commits $2.5 million to build homes, outlines bridge‑loan strategy

Natalie Boyette, executive director of the Macon‑Bibb County Affordable Housing Fund, said the fund has committed $2,500,000 to support initial homebuilding and related programs and plans to reuse repaid proceeds to finance future projects. “We're committing $2,500,000 to build these homes,” Boyette said on the Make It Macon podcast.

Boyette described the fund as a local partnership formed by Mayor Miller, Alex Morrison at the Urban Development Authority, Mike Austin at the Housing Authority and Everett Verner at the Land Bank Authority. She said the fund will offer a mix of flexible structured loans, initial development support and down‑payment assistance so developers and buyers can close projects that otherwise would stall.

The fund is serving several roles, Boyette said: taking early development risk in neighborhoods that have not attracted private investment, providing short‑term "bridge" payments to developers and nonprofits, and filling affordability gaps for buyers through targeted subsidies. "We're willing to be the first ones to go in when necessary," she said, describing the fund's readiness to step into projects that traditional lenders or developers avoid.

Boyette gave Tyndall Fields as an example of the process: the project took more than a year of planning, several design iterations and appraisal work before homes could be sold. The fund provides down‑payment assistance and gap subsidies when buyers qualify but cannot reach a project's price point. She acknowledged the exact subsidy per house is uncertain and pledged to report precise figures once appraisals and sales are complete.

To accelerate construction, the fund also offers quick bridge financing to partners such as Habitat for Humanity. Boyette said those payments can be processed in one to three days, versus the six‑to‑18‑month reimbursement cycles many nonprofit builders face for federal or state funds.

Boyette described a grant strategy meant to attract outside capital: the fund submitted an application for $1,500,000 and proposes to add $1,000,000 in local match to make the application more competitive. She said approved projects tied to the fund have leveraged roughly $20,000,000 in additional financing, including an estimated $17,000,000 in historic and other tax credits for infill development.

One large infill project Boyette discussed is a proposed 64‑unit development in Pleasant Hill led by Infill Housing. She said a recent federal rule change requires an added federal review that will delay the project start by about 60 days. "They're all very eager to get it started," she said, noting the delay is caused by the new review requirement rather than local readiness.

Boyette emphasized the fund's goal of financial sustainability: committed funds are intended to be recycled as loans are repaid so the program can support additional neighborhoods over time. Several projects already advancing under the fund's oversight have moved from planning to ribbon cuttings and groundbreakings, and Boyette said more such events are expected in the coming months.

Next steps: Boyette said the fund will continue project‑level reporting as homes reach appraisal and sale stages and will share more specific subsidy and leverage figures as they become available.