MIDWEST

Financing Announced for 3 Deals

COLUMBUS, OHIO The Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing (OCCH) and Red Capital Markets, Inc., completed financings totaling $15.5 million for three new affordable housing developments in Ohio and Kentucky.

Lincoln Park Phase II in Springfield, Ohio, will offer 24 units. The project is being developed by Pennrose Properties, LLC, and will be financed with federal HOPE VI funds, tax-exempt bonds, and 4 percent low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs).

Grand Oaks will bring 88 units to Lexington, Ky. Lexington-Fayette Urban County Housing Authority will also combine HOPE VI funds with tax-exempt bonds and 4 percent LIHTCs.

Lyons Place in Dayton, Ohio, will consist of 67 units for the elderly. The nonprofit St. Mary Development Corp. will combine Sec. 202 funds with tax-exempt bonds and 4 percent credits. OCCH syndicated the tax credits, and Red Capital Markets structured the bonds.

Indiana Reserves LIHTCs Following Big Demand

INDIANAPOLIS The Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) announced more than $26 million in LIHTC reservations, rural preservation loan funds, and Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds in April. Thirty projects across the state will receive funding.

The agency received a record 62 LIHTC applications this year, a 55 percent increase from last year. The applicants requested $41 million in LIHTCs, 139 percent more than the $17.3 million sought last year.

The jump in interest may be attributed to the state having about $24 million in additional credits for areas that were damaged by flooding and severe storms last year. The disaster credits are on top of Indiana's $14 million annual LIHTC authority, says Jacob Sipe, IHCDA multifamily manager.

NORTHEAST

New Development Started in the Ironbound

Newark, N.J. New Jersey-based ETC Cos., LLC, and the Ironbound Community Corp. broke ground recently on the Pacific Apartments, a $22 million, 80-unit affordable housing development.

It is the first affordable housing development to be constructed in the city's Ironbound section in three decades.

The city provided a long-term property tax abatement to help reduce the project's operating expenses to keep rents affordable. The project also received an allocation of LIHTCs and subsidy of approximately $3 million from the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency.

SOUTHEAST

New Complex Provides Affordable Housing in Alabama

Tuscumbia, Ala. A newly constructed 56-unit apartment complex developed by Timberline, LLC, opened here in March, with the Alabama Housing Finance Authority's HOME Investment Partnerships Program contributing $1.7 million. These funds were combined with $571,440 in LIHTCs, and Citizens Bank of Russellville provided $477,000 in additional funding.

In compliance with HOME regulations, 40 percent of the units are reserved for residents earning 50 percent or less of the area median income (AMI), while 60 percent of the units are reserved for tenants earning 60 percent or less of the AMI.

Since its inception in 1990, the HOME program has funded more than 8,900 multifamily units in Alabama.

WEST

Eden Opens Developments

HAYWARD, CALIF. Eden Housing, a leading nonprofit affordable housing developer in California, recently opened two projects—the 40-unit Almond Court in Manteca and the 78-unit Walker Landing in Hayward.

An $8.7 million development for seniors, Almond Court has five residential buildings arranged around a central courtyard. Residents began moving into the development in March.

The city of Manteca's Redevelopment Agency, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, San Joaquin HOME Fund, the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, and Farmers & Merchants Bank were partners in the project, which was designed by Mogavero Notestine Associates.

Eden Housing also celebrated the grand opening of the $23.6 million Walker Landing, which is named after James Alonzo Walker, a longtime Eden board member and community leader.

The DeSilva Group donated the land and provided nearly $3 million in financing, satisfying an inclusionary housing requirement.

Additional support came from Union Bank, U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corp., Silicon Valley Bank, and the state's Multifamily Housing Program. Eden received 1,500 applications for the 78 apartments.

Project Opens in Skid Row

LOS ANGELES More than 100 chronically homeless men and women have new apartments at The Abbey in Skid Row.

Designed by Koning-Eizenberg Architecture in Santa Monica, the supportive-housing development features 113 efficiency apartments.

The Abbey is developed and managed by the Skid Row Housing Trust. The project has a large array of on-site services. Medical, mental health, and substance-abuse treatment services are handled by JWCH Institute and Behavioral Health Services. Los Angeles County is providing funding for the supportive services.

The project is funded with city, county, state, and federal money. Funders included the Low Income Investment Fund, the Los Angeles Housing Department, the California Department of Housing and Community Development, Los Angeles County Housing Authority, Citibank, and Enterprise Community Investment, Inc. The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco provided $1 million in grants from its Affordable Housing Program.

Seniors Housing Gets Under Way

LAS VEGAS Construction has begun on McKnight Senior Village II, a second phase to an existing 110-unit affordable rental housing development for seniors.

Developed by George Gekakis, Inc., the new phase features 77 two-bedroom units in a four-story building on a 2.14-acre site adjacent to the original development. The new project will include a 7,000-square-foot clubhouse, a solar-heated pool, and green-building features.

The $14.4 million LIHTC project will be completed in 2010, with rents at 35 percent to 50 percent of the AMI.

Colorado Sees Surge in LIHTC Applications

DENVER The Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) saw a jump in requests in its recently completed first allocation round.

Developers submitted 21 applications, requesting $19.7 million in tax credits. That's the highest number of applications and the largest amount in requests seen by the state, says Jaime Gomez, CHFA's director of commercial lending.

The agency had planned to reserve about $3.6 million in the round, so demand outpaced available credits by nearly 6 to 1. On April 1, CHFA reserved $4.2 million in credits to six of the 21 projects. These developments will provide 401 housing units.

The state, which has three allocation rounds, requires developers to submit a letter of intent prior to filing a formal application. CHFA has received 21 letters for the second round, including 14 for projects that competed in the first round, according to Tasha Weaver, manager of the tax credit program. Officials noted that the number of final applicants may change.

The increased demand comes at a time when state housing agencies and others in the LIHTC industry are being impacted by a drop in tax credit pricing, says CHFA's Gomez. As pricing contracts, developers are seeking a larger amount of credits to make their deals work, he says.