Developer: The Woda Group, LLC
Architect: PCI Design Group, Inc.
Major Funders: Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing; Ohio Housing Finance Agency; Huntington National Bank; JPMorgan Chase
The newly renovated Richwood Greene gives low-income seniors the chance to grow old in the small town where many have spent most of their lives: Richwood, Ohio, population 3,000.
“It is truly the centerpiece of the town,” says Ian Maute, vice president for The Woda Group, LLC.
The Richwood Civic Association, which originally built the property in 1972, will run the town's Civic Center on the site, bringing people from across the county to participate in activities and services alongside the seniors who live there.
“Everybody wanted to see this fixed up,” Maute says. Local officials drafted a city resolution to redevelop the building, which was worn out after four decades of continuous use. They told state officials the redevelopment was “among the village's highest community development priorities.”
Richwood Greene needed a lot of work, including a larger, more reliable elevator, a fresh façade, and a new floor plan that widened doorways and replaced 60 apartments, including tiny studios, with a mix of 42 one- and two-bedroom units. Woda transferred the remaining federal Sec. 8 rental subsidy to other properties.
After applying for tax credits in 2006, 2007, and 2008, the $5.2 million project finally won a reservation in 2009, as the bottom fell out of the tax credit market. Richwood closed its financing in December 2010. “We were happy to get $0.75 on the dollar for our LIHTCs ... pricing around the country was in the $0.60s,” says Maute. “It took a little time, but it worked out great.”
