Starting June 17, the city throws open the doors for application to the Naturally Occurring Affordable Rental Housing (NOAH) Preservation Fund loans, a lifeline for housing providers and burgeoning real estate developers aiming to snatch up unsubsidized housing to keep it affordable, stamping out the risk of displacement, according to the  City of Minneapolis. They've got a six-week shot to sling their paperwork before the window clangs shut at 4 p.m. on July 29.

It's a game of numbers: if less than four qualified applications trickle in, the city will prop the window open another month, but if they're swamped with more than four, they'll cherry-pick a quartet that best jives with their program criteria, leaving others in the dust unless one of the chosen few stumbles and a spot reopens, as outlined by the City's guidelines. They're casting a keen eye on proposals that boast a hefty chunk of units pegged below 50% of the area median income (AMI), those pledging a longer anchor on affordability beyond the bare 10-year minimum, and especially the little guys - smaller scale and emerging developers - who have roots in the neighborhoods they're looking to develop.

Applicants have to huddle with City staff before they dash off their submissions, a pre-application meeting can be booked by shooting an email over to [email protected] – step right up, early birds, because slots for chinwags with staff are up for grabs immediately with bookings closing shop only a few days before the July 29 deadline. Before going in, hopefuls should do their homework on resources like the NOAH Program process diagram and the NOAH Fund closing checklist that's nested under the "Resources for prospective borrowers" section, bringing along the property address(es) they're aiming to bag. Once the pre-application chat wraps, the city will hand over the application papers, as detailed in the announcement.