Statement by Councilmember Andrew Friedson on the More Housing N.O.W. Package

The More Housing N.O.W. (New Options for Workers) package includes five bold steps to increase housing supply, reduce costs, and increase pathways to homeownership. They are as follows:

Building More Workforce Housing 

1. Workforce Housing Zoning Text Amendment 25-02: Allow more residential building types along corridors with a workforce housing requirement

1. Allow through Optional Method Development (not by right) duplexes, triplexes, townhomes, and apartments in the R-200, R-90, R-60, and R-40 zones.
2. 1.25 FAR (floor area ratio/density)
3. Maximum 40 feet height
4. Corridors include five roadway classifications with qualifying attributes: Boulevards, Downtown Boulevards, Downtown Streets, Controlled Major Highways, and Town Center Boulevards that have a master-planned width greater than 100 feet and 3 or more existing travel lanes
5. Require 15% of units satisfy the definition of workforce housing (70-120% of Area Median Income), with a minimum of 1 workforce housing unit for construction of 3 or more units

2. Workforce Housing Opportunity Fund: New countywide fund to incentivize & facilitate the construction of workforce units

1. $4 million initial funding
2. Eligible projects must provide at least 30% workforce units
3. Workforce units must average 80% Area Median Income affordability

Converting Highly Vacant Office to Housing

3. Office to Housing Zoning Text Amendment 25-03: Create an expedited approval process for projects that convert high-vacancy commercial properties to residential use

1. Applies to the Commercial-Residential, NR, and EOF zones
2. Retail or office building that is at least 50% vacant
3. Remove residential restriction on FAR (floor area ratio/density), so that total commercial-residential FAR can be used for residential
4. Must pull a building permit within 2 years of approval

4. Office to Housing PILOT Bill 2-25: Establish a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) for conversion of high-vacancy commercial properties to residential use

1. Retail or office building that is at least 50% vacant
2. 100% tax abatement for 25 years for qualifying projects
3. Minimum 15% MPDU requirement

Pathways to Homeownership

5. Budget: Double the County’s investment in homeownership assistance from $4 million to $8 million in the FY26 Housing Initiative Fund (HIF)

1. Funds may be used in partnership with the State’s Maryland Mortgage Program (which allows the household to receive both down payment assistance and lower rate mortgage) and through the Housing Opportunities Commission’s Montgomery County Homeownership Assistance Fund (McHAF)
2. Up to $25,000 zero interest loans granted to qualifying  first-time home buyers. Up to $1.0 million is reserved for County and MCPS employees under the Montgomery Employee Down Payment Assistance Loan (MEDPAL)