Incentive Long Term Rental Conversion Program Request for Information

Agency:	Buncombe County
State:	North Carolina
Type of Government:	State & Local
NAICS Category:	541611 - Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services 541618 - Other Management Consulting Services
Posted Date:	Jan 16, 2024
Due Date:	Feb 9, 2024
Bid Source:	Please Login to View Page
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BUNCOMBE COUNTY

Request for Information

INCENTIVE LONG TERM RENTAL CONVERSION PROGRAM

Date of Issue: 01/16/2024

Submission Deadline: 02/09/2024

At [03:00 PM] ET

1.0 PURPOSE AND BACKGROUND

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for information and

planning purposes – it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in

the future. This request for information does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or

service whatsoever.

Buncombe County is in the process of developing plans to incentivize the conversion of Short-Term Rental

units within Buncombe County to affordable rental units (80% AMI of below) for a minimum of 12-month

leases.

This Request for Information (RFI) is intended to collect information and recommendations regarding the

creation of such an incentive program. The responses to the RFI may be used to develop a contract for

carrying out the incentive program.

The County requests detailed point-by-point responses showing how your firm would address the items in

the following sections of this RFI:

2.0 RFI PROCEDURES

A. Schedule

Event

Issue RFI

Submit Written Questions

Provide Response to Questions

Submit Proposals

Responsibility

County

Vendor

County

Vendor

Date and Time

January 16, 2024

January 23, 2024, 5:00pm ET

January 30, 2024

February 9, 2024, 3:00pm ET

B. Clarification Questions

Clarification questions will be accepted until January 23,2024, 5:00pm, as specified in the schedule

above. All questions must be emailed to Ron.Venturella@buncombecounty.org by the date and

time specified above. An addendum containing any general clarification questions and their

answers will be issued as an addendum to this RFI.

C. Response

The County recognizes that considerable effort will be required in preparing a response to this RFI.

Please note this is a request for information only, and not a request for services. However,

responses to the questions below may be used to negotiate a contract for services. The

Vendor shall bear all costs for preparing this RFI.

1. Content and Format

The County expects concise, detailed, point-by-point responses to each of the RFI response

items identified in Section 3.0 of this RFI. The County is not interested in brochures or

“boilerplate” responses. Instead, responses should clearly define how the vendor’s proposed

solution(s) would meet the County’s business requirements. Any issues or exceptions to the

County’s requirements should also be identified and explained.

The response should define all services that would be required by the proposed solution. The

response should also include:

• The vendor’s understanding of the project and services by addressing the County’s business

requirements.

• Estimated total one-time, start-up costs and ongoing operating costs, broken out separately.

• The proposed solution’s ability to expand and evolve to meet all of the service and

performance requirements identified in this RFI.

2. Multiple Responses

Multiple responses will be accepted from a single vendor provided that each response is

comprehensive, meets all the County’s requirements, and is truly unique. Please place in

separate envelopes and clearly mark responses as “Response #1, Response #2, etc.

3. Submittal

Responses will be received until 05:00PM EST, 02/09/2024 and may be submitted in a sealed

envelope(s) or electronically submitted via email and properly identified with the RFI:

Development of Incentive Program for Conversion of Short-Term Rentals.

Responses may be emailed to:

Ron Venturella, Procurement Manager

E-mail: R o n . V e n t u r e l l a @ b u n c o m b e c o u n t y . o r g

3.0 REQUESTED INFORMATION

Buncombe County is currently facing an acute affordable housing crisis. A significant portion of our

housing stock, approximately 4.5%, is comprised of short-term rentals. This has contributed to a

scarcity of affordable long-term housing options, particularly for those earning 80% or below of the Area

Median Income (AMI). The purpose of this RFI is to solicit innovative solutions from vendors to address

this challenge. The goal is to develop an incentive program that encourages short-term rental property

owners to convert their properties into long-term rentals, thereby increasing the availability of affordable

housing for lower-income residents.

At the same time the incentive program is being rolled out, the county will be considering/adopting

short-term rental regulations. The responses to this RFI should reflect consideration of these potential

regulations and the timing of new regulations should coincide with the rollout of the incentive program.

This incentive program would only be targeted for units located within the unincorporated limits of

Buncombe County and no units within a municipality will be eligible. This RFI is for a pilot program.

The County is tentatively interested in two different options:

Option 1: Incentive for renting to households with housing vouchers (50% AMI and below)

• Offer a one-time, 2-month application period

• Criteria for incentive would follow voucher rules (i.e. 12-month lease, voucher amount based on unit

size, etc.)

Option 2: Incentive for renting to households earning between 51%-80% AMI.

• Offer a one-time, 2-month application period.

• Criteria for incentive would be:

o 12-month lease.

o Incentive amount based on unit size.

o Rent would be capped at 30% of income.

Other concepts for the pilot may be proposed, provided they meet the goal of converting short-term rentals

to long-term rentals.

The selected vendor will be required to:

- Develop a turnkey incentive program tailored to encourage the conversion of short-term rental

properties into affordable long-term rentals generally following the options listed above.

- Ensure the program targets properties suitable for residents making 80% or below of the AMI in

Buncombe County. Per state statute this program can only support households making 80% or below

of the AMI in Buncombe County.

- Provide a detailed implementation strategy and plan; including timelines; resource requirements, such

as staffing; and potential challenges.

-Develop all marketing materials and manage a local marketing campaign to potential landlords and

tenants.

- Outline methods for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the program.

- Collaborate with local government agencies and stakeholders for the successful roll-out of the

program.

- Vendor may select either option or both or provide another option that aligns with the goals and

parameters provided within this RFI.

- Vendor will explain how they will ensure that the program is managed with an equity lens.

- The vendor should be able to provide information on how many units can be converted and at what

financial incentive level(s).

- The vendor may include non-financial incentives within their proposal that would encourage

conversion of STR units into long-term affordable market rentals.

Disclaimer and Important Notes

This RFI is for informational purposes only; therefore, Buncombe County is not accepting any

formal proposals at this time. Buncombe County may issue additional solicitations in the future

based on or related to the content and responses to this RFI; however, mayalso elect not to issue

any additional responses. There is no guarantee that any project will move forward as a result of

this RFI. Responding to this RFI does not provide any advantage or disadvantage to potential

partners.

Any information obtained as a result of this RFI is intended to be used by Buncombe County on a

non-attribution basis for planning and strategy development; this RFI does not constitute a formal

solicitation for proposals. Your response to this notice will be treated as information only.

Buncombe County will review and consider all responses in its formulation of strategies for the

identified interest that are the subject of this request. Buncombe County will not provide

reimbursement for costs incurred in responding to this RFI. Respondents are advised that

Buncombe County is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or

provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted under this RFI.

Responses to this RFI do not bind Buncombe County to any further actions related to this topic.

File Name	Size	Type	Date & Time Added
Incentive Long Term Rental Conversion Program Request for Information	236 KB		01/16/2024 2:00 PM

Incentive Long Term Rental Conversion Program Request for Information

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