The Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) recently awarded over $13.8 million in its latest low-income housing tax credit funding round. The tax credits will help to build or rehab 14 developments with nearly 1,000 units of affordable rental housing.
About half of the new units will be new construction while the remaining units will be rehabbed, benefiting from safety improvements, energy efficiencies, and updated amenities.
Demand for the housing tax credits outweighed supply, with 56 applications requesting almost $51 million.
“These tax credits are a limited resource, and there is always a greater demand than what we have available to allocate,” said Gary Heidel, MSHDA’s acting executive director. “MSHDA is developing new ways to strategically leverage our existing resources to update and develop a large number of affordable rental housing and improve efficiencies across the board.”
In this latest funding round, MSHDA made strategic tax credit allocations by incentivizing developments in Opportunity Zones (OZs), designated distressed areas that are eligible for additional tax benefits aimed at spurring private investment, economic growth, and jobs through the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
The state’s qualified allocation plan has scoring criteria that can earn a development an additional three points on its application if it’s in an OZ. Out of the 14 developments awarded housing tax credits, 11 are in OZs.
“Housing tax credits are a critical resource for developers when planning to build or rehabilitate quality affordable rental housing,” Heidel said. “Overall, we estimate that this round of tax credit awards will leverage more than $126 million in private investment for Michigan.”
The 14 developments receiving LIHTC awards include:
- 7850 East Jefferson Phases I and II in Detroit by Ginosko Development Co.
- Antoine Court in Grand Rapids by Mount Mercy Housing Corp./Grand Rapids Housing Commission
- Beaubien in Detroit by American Community Developers
- Cathedral Tower Apartments in Detroit by MRK Partners
- Erin Park in Eastpointe by Community Housing Network and Cove Investments
- Harrison Circle in Kalamazoo by Nickel Spitters and NOMI II
- Hillcrest Apartments in Manistee by Hollander Development Corp. and Little River Real Estate Management
- JPS Petoskey in Petoskey by Werth Investments
- Milwaukee Junction Apartments in Detroit by MHT Housing and The Detroit Catholic Pastoral All
- Orchestra Place Apartments in Detroit by LarC Properties
- Walnut Street/Ferris Manor in Lansing by Capital Area Housing Partnership
- Willow Vista Apartments in Lansing by Ginosko Development Co.
- Winston Commons in Pontiac by Woda Cooper Cos.
