Build HUBS Act

Key Points

• The bill lets developers use two federal infrastructure loan programs, TIFIA and RRIF, to finance apartments, shops, and mixed-use buildings within a half-mile of train stations, bus rapid transit, or other transit hubs.
• It creates a new 'attainable housing project' category for developments serving households at or below 120% of area median income, where most units must be affordable to households at 80% AMI or below, and gives these projects loans at half the normal Treasury interest rate.
• The bill exempts certain projects, like converting old office buildings into housing or building on land already disturbed for transportation, from federal environmental review requirements under NEPA.
• A new delegated lending system lets approved private lenders handle loan origination and underwriting on the government's behalf, modeled on a HUD system used for apartment financing, to speed up approvals.
• Funding authorization for both loan programs is extended through fiscal year 2031, and the federal government can cover up to 75 percent of project costs for developments with significant housing components or transit agency partnerships.