Washington - Senior housing developments in 30 states will receive critically needed funding to get their projects off the ground thanks to more than $17 million in "pre-development" grants announced today by U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Steve Preston. The grants are awarded to 63 project sponsors under HUD's Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program.

"This funding will help these organizations cope with the complexities of developing vitally important elderly housing projects in their communities," said Preston. "These funds can make all the difference between these senior housing developments getting built or not. In many respects, it's our way of investing in our elderly just as they devoted so much of themselves to us."

Section 202 Demonstration Planning Grants (DPG) provide upfront funds for such predevelopment activities as architectural and engineering work, site control, and other expenses related to the development of the projects prior to initial closing. Without the grant funding, such costs would not be reimbursable until closing or would have to come from other funding sources.

To be eligible for the grants, the activities must otherwise be eligible for funding under the Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program. The maximum individual grant amount is $400,000 while no more than $800,000 can be awarded to a single sponsor or its affiliated organizations.

Project sponsors awarded "pre-development" grants are required to complete the processing of their elderly housing developments within 18 months. Subsequent to awarding these grants, HUD will assess the impact of the availability of such funding on the ability of sponsors to expedite the development processing of Section 202 projects.

To read a state-by-state breakdown of individual grant recipients, visit HUD's Website.