More than $2 million in state funding to help Fresno deal with housing crisis

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Affordable housing complexes which are built in the Fresno area are filled up as soon as the units become available.

Thousands of people will apply for the dozens of apartments typically available.

"Right now, the demand far exceeds the supply," says Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer.

We talked to Dyer about what the Prohousing designation will do for the city.

Fresno was one of just 22 cities in California to earn that status.

"Being designated as 'prohousing' is a game-changer in many respects when you're applying for grant funding from various state organizations," he said.

The Prohousing designation will bring five million dollars to the city of Fresno. The money will be used to reduce construction and development costs for several projects.

Some will involve converting old motels into apartment spaces. Others may be built from the ground up.

Dyer says the city has already placed several funding requests with the state of California to help create more living space.

"In fact, over the next three years we have in the pipeline 3,176 affordable housing units that will be built in the city of Fresno," he said. "We have those designated by name, by developer."

Dyer says the city earned the Prohousing state designation by making moves to accelerate housing development. That included favorable land use ordinances and subsidies to build affordable housing.

"It puts us, I think, in the driver's seat as we pursue additional funding from the state," he said.

Dyer adds the designation will also help Fresno Housing apply for more state funding because it operates within the city.

Mayor Dyer says cities can't even apply for some grants unless they have the Prohousing designation.

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