Ramsey County leaders have awarded $21.6 million to 16 affordable housing developments in St. Paul and its suburbs, signaling they were eager to see the projects get underway.

"Let's get this money out the door and shovels in the ground," Commissioner Jim McDonough said at a County Board meeting on Tuesday.

The funds will help build 500 new affordable housing units and preserve an additional 679 existing affordable units in St. Paul as well as several suburb cities including Maplewood, Shoreview, Little Canada and Roseville.

"This historic investment demonstrates our commitment to supplying greater affordable housing," said Ramsey County Board Chair Trista MatasCastillo.

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The money is primarily federal COVID-19 pandemic funds but also includes existing federal housing dollars and a portion of the newly enacted Housing and Redevelopment Authority property tax levy.

Growing and preserving the East Metro affordable housing stock has been a high priority for the County Board in recent years as the region's homeless population surged.

Ramsey County needs an additional 15,000 affordable housing units to meet current demand, said Max Holdhusen, Ramsey County housing development manager.

"This is infrastructure investment that's important to our communities," McDonough said. "Looking at it from that framework, it makes sense that we are a part of it. We are part of roads and bridges funding. We are working on ensuring that folks are connected to broadband and all those other things that are viewed as infrastructure."

County leaders say the community outcry for more affordable housing options is fueling their efforts.

"I would also like to thank the community who recognized the need for deeply affordable housing and is also pushing us even further to meet the needs in the community," Holdhusen said.

St. Paul Public Housing Authority was the largest recipient, receiving $5 million for several of its sites including the Edgerton/Seal Hi-Rises.

A list of recipients released includes nonprofits AEON, Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative, Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity as well as a few private developers including Reuter Walton and JB Vang.

Types of projects include acquisition, preservation, new construction of affordable rental housing and affordable owner-occupied housing.

The county held two solicitations in February and March seeking applications for the housing funds. They received 36 eligible applications totaling nearly $56 million in requests.

Kari Collins, Ramsey County's director of community and economic development, said most of these developments have multiple funding sources. She said several cities are also contributing to these affordable housing projects.

"We really are doing this in partnership with the municipalities to advance deeply affordable housing infrastructure," Collins said. "We are just one piece of the larger puzzle."

In December, the county gave nearly $8 million for affordable housing.

The county still has $17 million in federal COVID-19 funding to spend on affordable housing and is already considering how it will distribute those remaining dollars, Collins said.