The Polk County Housing Trust Fund on Monday was awarded a $250,000 Prairie Meadows Legacy Grant, part of $6.6 million the racetrack and casino donated to area charities and organizations.

Among the recipients of the largest grants was West Des Moines, which got $600,000 for the MidAmerican Energy RecPlex project.

The housing grant, along with matching funds from the trust, will be used to help qualifying households with down payment assistance. The program reduces the size of the first mortgage as well as monthly payments.

A recent report estimated that between now and 2038 new job growth in the low- to moderate-income pay range will require Polk County to add more than 16,500 new owner-occupied homes that cost less than $175,000. Most builders have been constructing homes in the $250,000 to $350,000 price range. 

“Central Iowa is facing a critical housing shortage in a price category that is not easy for builders to satisfy,” Eric Burmeister, the Polk County Housing Trust Fund’s executive director, said in a prepared statement. “Unless we join together to find creative ways to make construction of these homes more affordable and remove barriers to development, we will quickly find ourselves with a full-blown affordability crisis created by exploding demand and a severe shortage of supply.” 

Prairie Meadows’ Legacy Grant program provides funding in the range of $100,000 to $1 million for large-scale projects that play a major role in enhancing and revitalizing the Greater Des Moines area. 

See the full list of Legacy Grants.

See the full list of Community Betterment Grants.