Keep your tenants happy by completing repairs and capital investment projects with a grant for 25% of your costs.
Do you own a rental property that needs some TLC? Does it have a need for major capital improvements?
Our Rental Rehab program can help you make major upgrades so that you can continue to attract good tenants that want to rent long-term. We help you keep rents affordable too, so your current tenants have the opportunity to stay.
PROGRAM DETAILS
A New Life for Your Old Building
Grant Amount: 25% of Project Cost
- For the owners of multi-family properties with 10 or fewer units
- Covers repairs, deferred maintenance, capital investment projects
- Receive a grant for 25% of your project costs
- Grants are fully forgiven within 3, 5, or 7 years if you keep rents affordable (up to 2% rent increase allowed a year). The length of the forgiveness period depends on the grant amount.
Eligible Properties
- Property must be a single-family rental or a multifamily rental with 10 or fewer units.
- Rental property must be located within a Special Investment District.
- Rental property must have a valid rental certificate and no substantial outstanding code violations.
- The owner of the rental property must be current on property taxes for all their properties.
Eligible Projects
Projects eligible for Invest DSM funding include but are not limited to:
- Converting multi-unit rental properties into fewer units or single-family rental properties
- Upgrading windows
- Replacing the roof
- Replacing siding or painting the exterior
- Rebuilding the front porch
- Upgrading the landscaping
- Upgrading the kitchen or bathrooms
- Upgrading major mechanical systems with energy-efficient versions
- Repairing or replacing the foundation
- Replacing dead or dying trees
“Invest DSM prioritizes improving and revitalizing neighborhoods.”
The Flats at Highland Park
An exciting project that wrapped up in early 2021 was the renovation of 622 Euclid Ave, a 10-unit apartment building on the edge of the business district, now called The Flats at Highland Park.
This building is a great example of the challenges we often experience in Des Moines neighborhoods. When a local developer purchased it for rehabilitation, it had been sitting vacant for at least four years and needed significant work to make it code-compliant and occupiable, let alone attractive in the market. The cost to do the necessary work far exceeded what the building could appraise for, therefore limiting the traditional financing the developer could access.
Enter Invest DSM. Thanks to a grant from our organization, the developer was able to complete a $600,000 full-building renovation with upgraded and modernized units, provide new parking for tenants, and restore some of the building’s unique historic character — all while offering affordable rents. The building is now fully occupied.
