The city of Norman will now offer a down payment assistance program for homebuyers in three core Norman neighborhoods, according to an April 9 press release.
The program is funded by the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, a federally funded initiative that provides grants to communities to expand affordable opportunities for low and moderate-income households.
The down payment assistance program will provide eligible homebuyers with up to $14,999 in down payment assistance. In order to qualify for the funding, applicants must purchase a home within one of the three eligible neighborhoods, meet the income limits established by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and occupy the home as their primary residence for a minimum of five years for full forgiveness, according to the release.
The neighborhoods eligible for the program are Old Silk Stocking, First Courthouse and Original Townsite. Old Silk Stocking runs from Robinson Street to Main Street between James Garner and Porter avenues. First Courthouse runs from Robinson Street to Gray Street between Porter and Carter avenues. Original Townsite runs from Main Street to Alameda Street between Porter and Reed avenues.
In an April 10 email to the Daily, Lisa Krieg, Community Development Block Grant grants manager, wrote the required income limit is a threshold of 80% and below the median family income.
“This number is set by HUD according to household size and is updated each spring. The current limits are from 2025, but new ones are expected in May,” Krieg wrote.
According to HUD’s FY 2025 Income Limits Documentation System, “low-income” for a two-person household, a four-person household and a six-person household in Cleveland County is $62,550, $78,150 and $90,700, respectively.
The down payment assistance program will be administered by Neighborhood Housing Services Oklahoma, which will oversee application intake, eligibility determination and assistance distribution.
In 2019, the city established a Strong Neighborhoods Initiative program to strengthen core neighborhoods.
“The City of Norman is following the lead of the City of Oklahoma City with the Strong Neighborhoods Program. (Old Silk Stocking, First Courthouse and Original Townsite) were selected due to their potential as viable neighborhoods that have a substantial amount of naturally occurring affordable housing. Each of these three neighborhoods has been included within the (Community Development Block Grant Program) Target Area since the inception of the program,” Krieg wrote.
The Strong Neighborhoods Initiative is funded by a separate fund called the Community Development Block Grant Program. According to Krieg, the initiative seeks to empower local voices, formally organize voluntary neighborhood associations and facilitate small-scale neighborhood projects.
Krieg wrote that development in and around the three neighborhoods is amazing, but concerns over outside investments reducing affordability led the city to focus on strengthening the area.
“By actively working to stabilize these neighborhoods through the (Community Development Block Grant) activities, including the organization of the residents, as well as providing opportunities for new owner occupants, will result in these three neighborhoods remaining a desirable place to live in central Norman,” Krieg wrote.
Mayor Stephen Tyler Holman told OU Daily in a Friday phone call that there has been economic activity and many homes bought and fixed in recent years.
Holman said there has also been commercial growth in areas surrounding the three neighborhoods, such as along East Main Street.
“A lot of positive outlook in that area. Right now, the homes are really affordable for a lot of younger families, single people, first-time homebuyers. A lot of those properties may need some work, but for the most part, they’re very affordable and this down payment assistance could be what makes the difference in people being able to actually get their first home,” Holman said.
According to Holman, the city is working to address issues in the area preventing neighborhood expansion.
“There are issues like the Norman Regional Hospital campus on Porter, that’s not a hospital anymore. It is a pretty large, mostly vacant building, and then the Griffin (Memorial) Hospital campus to the east,” Holman said. “That has been the point of a lot of discussion recently about the future of it and how it could be developed.”
Holman said the city has had discussions for many years regarding changes to the area.
“Just this past summer, we updated a conceptual master plan for what it could potentially be like spatially. You know, we’re trying to figure out how to put more housing into Norman without expanding our urban footprint, …” Holman said. “This massive state hospital that’s in the middle of our city being available for development presents a pretty interesting and unique opportunity for us.”
Norman has offered a down payment assistance program in the past, but it has been inactive for over a decade, according to Krieg.
“Norman operated a (down payment assistance) program from 1999 thru 2012 and assisted over 500 households become homebuyers. The program ended due to funding constraints at that time,” Krieg wrote.
This story was edited by Macey Thaxton and Madisson Cameron. Larkin Bock and Sophie Hemker copy edited this story.
