On July 26, HUD announced $370 million in Choice Implementation Grants set to be awarded to eight cities across the country. The new grantees join 44 other Choice Neighborhoods sites nationwide.

HUD Secretary Fudge visited Birmingham, Alabama, where she presented one of the eight grants in person. From August 1 through August 4 leadership from HUD will visit the remaining communities receiving awards.

The recipients include:

Lead Recipient / Co-Recipient (if applicable)	Amount
City of Tucson, AZ	$50,000,000
Housing Authority of the Birmingham District / City of Birmingham, AL	$50,000,000
Housing Authority of the City of Atlanta / City of Atlanta, GA	$40,000,000
Lake Charles Housing Authority / City of Lake Charles, LA	$40,000,000
Housing Authority of the City Pittsburgh / City of Pittsburgh, PA	$50,000,000
Miami-Dade County, FL	$40,000,000
Philadelphia Housing Authority / City of Philadelphia, PA	$50,000,000
Wilmington Housing Authority / City of Wilmington, DE	$50,000,000
Total Award Amount	$370,000,000

On July 27, HUD published a supplement to the RAD Notice (Notice H-2023-08/PIH 2023-19, Rev 4-b) which implements certain changes to the Rental Assistance Demonstration program. The notice will go into effect immediately following publication in the Federal Register. Major revisions in the notice include:

• RAD for PRAC initial contract rent setting to help implement funding provisions included in FY 22 and FY 23 Consolidated Appropriations Acts. The Notice allows additional rent-setting flexibility to promote and incentivize projects where the conversion supports long-term preservation of PRAC Section 202 units.
• Enhanced descriptions of resident engagement that must be submitted with the RAD application and modified resident meeting requirements.
• Raised minimum energy efficiency requirements and additional climate resilience planning.
• Harmonizing radon policies in RAD conversions by requiring all projects converting through RAD to be evaluated for radon.
• Additional information on the treatment of zero-HAP families in RAD conversions.
• Simplified Faircloth-to-RAD requirements where PHAs can secure conditional pre-completion approvals to convert newly developed public housing units to long-term Section 8 contracts through RAD.
• Additional clarification on the applicability of Housing Quality Standards (HQS) during the work period for occupied units and adds a certification requirement regarding the condition of the unit prior to the unit entering the HAP contract.  
• Additional waivers to RAD/Section 18 blends to facilitate uniform treatment of residents and units.

The Notice can be found here. HUD will also be hosting a live webinar to provide an overview of the RAD Supplemental Notice on Wednesday, August 9, 2023. Register here.