The Bishop Paiute Tribe has dropped its plans to develop housing after becoming the first California Native-American tribe to receive an award of low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs).
In 2014, it received reservations of $884,507 in federal housing credits and $3.4 million in state housing credits from the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (TCAC). Located in the small town of Bishop in the state’s Eastern Sierra region, the tribe had planned to build 30 new homes and a community building.
The award was made through a pilot Native-American set-aside in the state’s LIHTC program.
Bishop Paiute has dropped the deal and will turn the credits back in, confirmed David Bland, CEO and chairman of Travois, a firm focused on promoting housing and economic development for American Indian and other native communities. Travois worked with the Bishop Paiute Tribe on the project.
Several factors were involved, including a change in tribal leadership as well as the timing of development process, according to Bland.
In its newsletter, the Bishop Paiute Tribe also expressed concerns about costs.
