The RESIDE Act would create a federal pilot program within HUD to help convert vacant and abandoned commercial or industrial buildings into attainable housing. The program would run for fiscal years 2027 through 2031 and would allow the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to use up to $100 million per year in excess HOME Investment Partnerships Program funding to award competitive grants to eligible local jurisdictions.
The bill defines eligible properties broadly to include blighted warehouses, factories, malls, strip malls, hotels, and similar commercial or industrial buildings that have been deemed unsafe and left uncorrected, or that are already in receivership or subject to abandonment-related nuisance actions under state or local law. Grant funds could be used for acquisition, demolition, remediation of health hazards, site preparation, construction, renovation, rehabilitation, and community land trusts. The bill also requires that converted units comply with HOME program rental, sale, and resale rules, and it directs HUD to report to Congress on the program’s effects after it ends.
Impact
The bill would not directly rewrite state housing codes, but it would create a new federal grant program layered onto the existing HOME Investment Partnerships Program and administered by HUD. It would affect participating local governments and housing agencies by giving them a new funding source for adaptive reuse projects, while preserving their existing HOME formula allocations. The bill also references and relies on state and local abandonment, receivership, nuisance abatement, and code enforcement processes, and it gives HUD limited waiver authority over certain federal requirements, excluding fair housing, nondiscrimination, labor, and environmental rules.
Sentiment
No committee transcript or vote record is available, so there is no recorded debate or roll-call sentiment to assess. Based on the bill text, the measure appears generally pro-housing and pro-redevelopment, with an emphasis on turning underused properties into affordable or attainable housing and targeting distressed communities. The inclusion of a post-program study suggests an interest in measuring outcomes rather than assuming success.
Contention
The main potential points of contention are likely to be the use of federal housing funds for a pilot program, HUD’s waiver authority, and the balance between redevelopment flexibility and regulatory safeguards. Supporters would likely favor the bill’s focus on blight removal, housing supply, and reuse of vacant properties, while critics may question whether the program diverts HOME funds from other affordable housing needs or gives too much discretion to HUD and local entities. Another possible issue is whether the bill’s priority structure sufficiently ensures affordability versus broader redevelopment goals.