Washington is offering below-market interest rates for privately-funded TOD projects

Two longstanding federal infrastructure loan funds were revised last month to extend below-market interest rates to private development near rail stations. RRIF and TIFIA have previously funded work for Amtrak and transit agencies but can now fund new construction and significant adaptive reuse and office conversion projects within a half-mile walking distance of rail stations.

At the time of publication, the interest rate is 4.84 percent.

Proximity to Metra stations makes a project eligible for U.S. DOT below-market interest rate loans.

• RRIF will fund up to 75 percent of eligible project costs, and a minimum of 20 percent of the project must be funded privately. Projects must be within 1/2 mile walking distance of Amtrak, Metra, and South Shore Line stations.
• TIFIA will fund up to 33 percent of eligible project costs. Projects must be within 1/2 mile walking distance of Amtrak, CTA, Metra, and South Shore Line stations.

Basic eligibility requirements include…

• Both programs require that a transit authority or local government is the applicant and borrower.
• Neither program has an affordability requirement.
• Projects must show that they will generate transit ridership.

Is there an eligible rail station nearby?

In Chicago, quite likely yes!

Chicago Cityscape has updated Incentives Checker to measure walking distance to eligible rail stations for every Property Report you look up.

This “distance check” works in all of Chicagoland and northwest Indiana. And if Incentives Checker reports that the project location is near or over 2,640 feet away you’ll need to independently verify the distance.

Incentives Checker will measure the distance between your project location and the nearest eligible rail station entrance. TIFIA considers CTA stations eligible while RRIF does not.

Upcoming informational meetings

First, why did these programs evolve? Bidenomics.

“Transportation and land use reforms are central strategies to achieving many of the goals that President Biden has set for the nation — reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 in the fight against climate change; addressing the housing supply and affordability crisis throughout the country; and advancing equity, fair housing, civil rights, racial justice, environmental justice, and equal opportunity.” — that’s from the U.S. DOT’s policy statement.

The U.S. DOT’s Build America Bureau is hosting five informational meetings, starting on Monday, November 13, 2023.

Monday, 11/13/23
12:30-2 PM Central time
RSVP on Zoom here

Read more about the loans and see the dates of the other meetings