GREATER Revitalization of Shopping Centers Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1533 To amend the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to authorize grants to assist in redeveloping abandoned shopping centers, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 10, 2023 Mr. BOOKER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To amend the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to authorize grants to assist in redeveloping abandoned shopping centers, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Grayfield Redevelop- 4 ment and Economic Advancement Through Effective 5 Repurposing and Revitalization of Shopping Centers Act 6 of 2023’’ or the ‘‘GREATER Revitalization of Shopping 7 Centers Act of 2023’’. 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1533.IS S1533 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1533 IS SEC. 2. GRAYFIELDS SHOPPING CENTERS REDEVELOP- 1 MENT GRANTS. 2 (a) GRANTS.—Section 108 of the Housing and Com- 3 munity Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5308) is 4 amended by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(s) SHOPPING CENTER REDEVELOPMENT 6 GRANTS.— 7 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—In conjunction with notes or 8 other obligations issued by eligible public entities or 9 designated public agencies for the purpose of financ- 10 ing projects that meet the criteria under paragraph 11 (2) and that are guaranteed under this section, the 12 Secretary may make grants to those eligible public 13 entities or designated public agencies in connection 14 with those guarantees for the purpose of enhancing 15 the security of the notes or obligations or improving 16 the viability of projects financed with those notes or 17 obligations. 18 ‘‘(2) PROJECT REQUIREMENTS.—A project 19 meets the criteria under this paragraph only if the 20 project— 21 ‘‘(A) is designed to eliminate blight, includ- 22 ing on a spot basis, through redevelopment and 23 revitalization of facilities that— 24 ‘‘(i) were originally developed as shop- 25 ping centers, 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1533.IS S1533 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1533 IS ‘‘(ii) consist of an enclosed facility 1 covering not less than 20 acres, 2 ‘‘(iii) contain— 3 ‘‘(I) not less than 40 individual 4 storefronts of which less than 30 per- 5 cent are occupied at the time the 6 grant is awarded, or 7 ‘‘(II) 2 or more vacant major de- 8 partment stores, grocery stores, or 9 other large chain stores having sub- 10 stantial economic strength and occu- 11 pying substantial square footage of 12 the facility, and 13 ‘‘(iv) include a common parking area; 14 except that the Secretary may establish alter- 15 native criteria to the requirements under this 16 subparagraph for eligibility of shopping centers 17 for assistance as the Secretary considers appro- 18 priate; and 19 ‘‘(B) meets such requirements as the Sec- 20 retary shall establish to ensure that the project 21 promotes— 22 ‘‘(i) transit-oriented development; 23 ‘‘(ii) reclaiming and re-use of 24 grayfields; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1533.IS S1533 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1533 IS ‘‘(iii) development of affordable hous- 1 ing; 2 ‘‘(iv) removal of existing grayfield in- 3 frastructure; 4 ‘‘(v) such other priorities as the Sec- 5 retary considers appropriate, including 6 with respect to smaller jurisdictions and 7 non-metropolitan areas; or 8 ‘‘(vi) any 2 or more of the priorities 9 specified in or pursuant to this subpara- 10 graph. 11 ‘‘(3) AMOUNT.—The amount of a grant pursu- 12 ant to this section may not exceed $5,000,000. 13 ‘‘(4) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The Sec- 14 retary shall require each eligible public entity or des- 15 ignated public agency to which a grant is made pur- 16 suant to this subsection to contribute to the project 17 for which the grant is made an amount from sources 18 other than the grant, including local and State tax 19 abatements, in-kind contributions, and Federal tax 20 incentives, that exceeds 50 percent of the amount of 21 the grant. 22 ‘‘(5) PREFERENCE.—In making grants pursu- 23 ant to this section, the Secretary shall give pref- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1533.IS S1533 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1533 IS erence to eligible public entities and designated pub- 1 lic agencies based on the extent to which— 2 ‘‘(A) the amount proposed to be contrib- 3 uted pursuant to paragraph (4) exceeds the 4 minimum amount required by such paragraph 5 to be contributed; 6 ‘‘(B) the project reflects the results of ex- 7 tensive community engagement; and 8 ‘‘(C) the project would benefit lower-in- 9 come, underserved communities. 10 ‘‘(6) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 11 ‘‘(A) HUD.—The Secretary shall, in ac- 12 cordance with section 102 of the Department of 13 Housing and Urban Development Reform Act 14 of 1989 (42 U.S.C. 3545), provide technical 15 guidance and assistance to applicants for grants 16 under this subsection regarding— 17 ‘‘(i) how to apply for grants under 18 this subsection; and 19 ‘‘(ii) how to avoid conflicts relating to 20 using funding pursuant to this section in 21 conjunction with Federal tax-exempt fi- 22 nancing. 23 ‘‘(B) LOCAL.—An eligible public entity or 24 designated public agency receiving a grant 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1533.IS S1533 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1533 IS under this subsection may use not more than 1 25 percent of the grant amounts to obtain tech- 2 nical assistance from local qualified service pro- 3 viders regarding combining that assistance with 4 other financing with— 5 ‘‘(i) other Federal assistance, includ- 6 ing the New Markets Tax Credits program 7 and Low-Income Housing Tax Credit pro- 8 gram under sections 45D and 42, respec- 9 tively, of the Internal Revenue Code of 10 1986; and 11 ‘‘(ii) other State assistance, tax cred- 12 its, and incentives, including tax-increment 13 financing and other bonding instruments. 14 ‘‘(7) REPORTS.— 15 ‘‘(A) HUD.—For each fiscal year for 16 which grants are made under this subsection, 17 the Secretary shall submit a report to the Con- 18 gress, not later than 90 days after the end of 19 such fiscal year, that identifies— 20 ‘‘(i) each project assisted with such 21 grant amounts; 22 ‘‘(ii) the amount of non-Federal funds 23 contributed to the project; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1533.IS S1533 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1533 IS ‘‘(iii) how the grant amounts were 1 used. 2 ‘‘(B) GAO.—Not later than 2 years after 3 the date of enactment of this subsection, the 4 Comptroller General of the United States shall 5 submit a report to the Congress analyzing the 6 effectiveness of the program for grants under 7 this section and making recommendations to 8 improve future outcomes among shopping mall 9 redevelopment and revitalization projects and 10 similar subsidy programs administered in con- 11 junction with Federal loan guarantees. 12 ‘‘(8) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 13 ‘‘(A) TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOP- 14 MENT.—The term ‘transit-oriented develop- 15 ment’ means a project that— 16 ‘‘(i) enhances economic development 17 and achieve other goals established during 18 the project development and engineering 19 processes; 20 ‘‘(ii) facilitates multimodal transpor- 21 tation connectivity and accessibility; 22 ‘‘(iii) increases access to transit hubs 23 for pedestrian and bicycle traffic; 24 ‘‘(iv) enables mixed-use development; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1533.IS S1533 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1533 IS ‘‘(v) identifies infrastructure needs as- 1 sociated with the project; and 2 ‘‘(vi) includes private sector participa- 3 tion. 4 ‘‘(B) GRAYFIELD.—The term ‘grayfield’ 5 means an economically obsolescent, outdated, 6 failing, moribund, or underused real estate 7 asset. 8 ‘‘(9) FUNDING.—There is authorized to be ap- 9 propriated for grants under this subsection 10 $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 and 2025, 11 which amounts shall remain available until ex- 12 pended.’’. 13 (b) CDBG LOAN GUARANTEE CAP.—Subject to sec- 14 tion 502 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 15 U.S.C. 661a), during each of fiscal years 2024 and 2025, 16 commitments to guarantee loans under section 108 of the 17 Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 18 U.S.C. 5308), any part of which is guaranteed, shall not 19 exceed a total principal amount of $500,000,000, notwith- 20 standing any aggregate limitation on outstanding obliga- 21 tions guaranteed in subsection (k) of such section 108. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1533.IS S1533 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS