Good morning to all director and to all of those.

We're going to get started.

It is roughly now 10 o'clock, and we want to make sure that we go over the agenda and make sure that all is well in the absence of our chair, and we're happy to uh step in and kind of take care of some of the important things of our city.

Let me just thank first and foremost.

Uh we are joined this morning by those of our council.

Uh Vice uh Mail Pro Tim, Councilman Amy Peck is joined with us.

I'm Mail Pro Tim Martha Castex Tatum, along also with our at-large one councilmember Junior Ramirez, and at large five, Councilmember Salah Alcorn.

We are represented also by uh representatives from District C, uh, also from District Elf and also from District G and H, the representatives are here, and so we are ready to get started.

Most of you know I am councilmember Willie Davis, at large two vice chair, and we of housing affordable uh board of uh we're so happy to have both of us here and our director, and so we called in this meeting to order and and compliance, and we're gonna get started on the agenda.

Our directors here.

Uh we want to today we're going to hear from all of these, uh, particularly our director, and regarding our agenda.

And so we're going to start off with compliance and grant administration presented by Director Mike Nichols and Deputy Director Derek Sellers.

Good morning, gentlemen.

Go right ahead.

Good morning, Mr.

Chairman.

Thank you, sir.

Uh, thank you for having here, other council members.

Thank you for being here.

Um, we have a some interesting items this morning.

We're going to go through after we talk about compliance and grant administration and a uh and changes there.

We're gonna spend a substantial amount of time on a public facility project, Eastern Maker Hub, uh, to really bring all of you up to date on that project and needs that we have there.

Um, one of the things that as I look over my two years, um, we've looked at a great deal at homelessness, at uh single family housing, at multifamily housing, a lot of public services.

Um, but we haven't spent much time on public facilities.

It is a big part of the work that the housing department does.

Again, much of it dealing with federal funds that come through.

Um, there's an economic development piece of that that's required out of many of the funds that come through our department.

And so this is an opportunity to look at one project.

Um, you'll see the complexities there, but also you'll see a little bit about how we do things and what we want to get done in a public facilities project.

Um overall, you know, just to take one step back.

I still believe we are going to see over the next year a greater emphasis nationally and locally on affordability of housing.

It is a real national problem.

Um we in Houston think we have a better situation than other parts of the country, and probably do, but we uh the affordability piece of our housing is a great component of our growth, and we'll spend more time thinking about that and talking about that.

Uh that's the big picture that we'll look at.

But so we'd like to open up with our deputy director Derek Sellers, who we're so appreciative to have on this on his team after with more than 20 years experience and certainly uh knows more about affordable housing than most people will ever learn.

So um, Mr.

Sellers.

Good morning.

So for agenda items two and three, they're both related to the East End Maker Hub, and we know that uh many of you may not have been on city council the time that this was originally voted on with the city's investment in this project, uh, much less when it was completed just a few years ago.

And so what we've done is we have this four-minute video that we're gonna show you that's gonna tell you a little bit more about the East End Maker Hub, and then we'll go into agenda items two and three about the actions that the department is recommending.

Empowered by a half million dollar capacity building grant from the East End district in 2017.

Empowered by a half million dollar capacity building grant from the East End District in 2017, UpCDC and TXRX Lab set out to transform Houston's East End, creating a first of its kind hub for advanced manufacturing, workforce training, and economic growth, a self-sustaining engine of opportunity.

With nearly 40 million dollars raised in capital investment to buy the site, including crucial support from the city of Houston, HUD, the EDA, and private partners all coming together, and over half the funding coming from the city of Houston.

Through a HUD loan and grant, the vision became a reality.

In February 2021, the East End Maker Hub opened its doors, and the impact has been undeniable.

Without the East End Maker Hub, we would have struggled.

We did struggle to find a place where we could dig in on our hardware development and our RD effort.

And without such an affordable facility with so many features, I don't know that we could afford to build this company in this environment.

This 37,000 square foot facility is a powerhouse of self-sustaining opportunity.

65,000 square feet dedicated to a manufacturing workforce incubator, equipping Americans to create world-class products, implementing world-leading technologies.

234,000 square feet least to high-tech manufacturing startups, providing affordable space for small businesses to grow.

But none of this would be possible without the city of Houston's partnership and funding.

At Maker Hub, rents are 25 to 30% below market rate.

That affordability isn't just helpful, it's essential.

It frees up critical resources for research, development, and innovation.

It creates a secure environment for startups to invest capital necessary to achieve commercialization.

These startups are assisted by on-site engineers and scientists at project partner TXRX Labs.

Thanks to the City of Houston's support with a $22.7 million Section 108 HUD loan and a $1.4 million grant.

Entrepreneurs can build, test, and thrive.

And the results are clear.