A National Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI)Flexible Loan Capital Customized to Create Affordable Housing
FHLB ATlanta AHP
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Affordable Housing, Education and Development, Inc. (AHEAD) in Bethlehem, New Hampshire has created a 28-unit, 9% LIHTC affordable multifamily apartment property that will target households earning up to 50% and 60% of the area median income (AMI). While Lloyd's Hill will offer family housing, the project is ideal for seniors due to its location within walking distance to a grocery store, convenience store, gas station, bank, fitness center, and several restaurants. The parcel is under construction with 4 one- to two-story apartment buildings and a community building on a 44-acre parcel of wooded land. The land includes a 32-acre conservation easement, ensuring a portion of the property remains undeveloped. The proposed townhouse-style apartment buildings will offer 28, two, and three-bedroom apartments. Twenty-one of the apartments will be affordable to lower-income tenants, and seven will be market-rate apartments.
According to Representative Ann McLane Kuster, "I am excited to see the progress Affordable Housing, Education and Development (AHEAD) is making to ensure all Granite Staters can afford a place to call home," said Rep. Kuster. "The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced my belief that the federal government must do more to support projects, like this one in Bethlehem, that expand the housing stock here in New Hampshire. AHEAD's past projects, including the Friendship House, have strengthened the community in the North Country, and I have no doubt that the Lloyd's Hills project will build on that track record of success."
In addition to AHEAD's housing development program, AHEAD's HomeOwnership Center provides 12 Homebuying Workshops each year that educate more than 120 families, 50 of whom move on to purchase their first homes. The HomeOwnership Center also provides four financial fitness workshops per year that educate more than 75 families on budgeting, savings, credit, and debt reduction.
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As a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank Atlanta (FHLBAtlanta), Community Housing Capital (CHC) sponsors several applications each year, on behalf of its borrowers, to receive an FHLB Atlanta (FHLBAtlanta) AHP award for up to $500,000. Recipients acquire, construct, rehabilitate, and/or develop affordable rental and ownership housing. In November 2019, Avesta Housing, in Lewiston, Maine, received a $500,000 award through the AHP program. CHC will also provide $500,000 of bridge financing during the project's construction phase. The $7.6 million development, known as Blake & Pine, will create new affordable apartments in an accessible and "elevatored" building. Blake and Pine Street are within easy walking distance of several bus lines, Kennedy Park, and other services and locations that are important to daily living. Eleven apartments will be fully accessible to disabled residents with seven apartments reserved for residents earning between 50% and 65% area median income (AMI) and 21 units reserved for less than 50% AMI.
Avesta Housing is working with another NeighborWorks organization, Community Concepts, Inc., in Lewiston, Maine, to create the 35 new apartment homes in the walkable heart of downtown Lewiston, a city with a critical need for safe, affordable, and accessible rental housing. The Lewiston area (pop. 36,000) has significant economic disinvestment and substandard housing, where approximately 20% of residents live at or below the federal poverty level. About 61% of Lewiston households cannot afford an average two-bedroom rent, and 46% of households are rent-burdened. Lewiston also features some of the oldest housing stock in the country, with 39% of homes constructed pre-1940. This age contributes directly to the high levels of childhood lead poisoning, among the highest in the state and region. The traditional 3-story homes are characteristic of downtown, limiting housing options for people with mobility limitations.
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In 2017, Community Housing Capital (CHC) sponsored an FHLB Atlanta AHP application on behalf of Southwest Housing Solutions (SWHS) for the Mack Ashland II project in Detroit, MI. FHLB awarded SWHS $250,000, and as part of that award, CHC agreed to provide permanent financing for the 29 townhomes and improvements.
Mack Ashland II serves a vital need for the Detroit area. According to the 2017 State of Homelessness Annual Report for the Detroit Continuum of Care, there are 13,175 homeless persons in the City of Detroit and 1,286 are Veterans. The Mack Ashland II project has set aside eight homes for the homeless and persons with special needs earning 30% of area median income (AMI) or less and, 20 homes are set aside for families earning 60% AMI or less. Six homes are reserved for Veterans.
SWHS purchased the land for this development from the City of Detroit Land Bank. Existing homes on the site were demolished and Mack Ashland II was completed and leased by 2017. Unfortunately, the contractor did not install the driveways of the houses to City of Detroit standards requiring that all driveways had to be torn out and redone. The original curbs were installed in the 1920s and were made of granite. Today, the new curbs meet the 2009 City of Detroit Right-of-Way standards and are made of concrete, and the overall project was awarded an Enterprise Green Certification.
In 2018, Southwest Housing Solutions was a nominee of the Developments of Distinction Award from Novogradac & Company. According to Novogradac, Southwest Housing Corporation is committed to revitalizing Detroit’s Eastside neighborhood, as has been demonstrated from the success of Mack-Ashland I and Mack-Ashland II. In 2013 Mack-Ashland I (Phase I) of the Mack Ashland Community Revitalization Initiative was completed. The initiative included the development of a 39-unit building comprising studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom apartments with commercial space on the ground floor. Mack-Ashland II (Phase II) is located behind the Mack Ashland apartment complex. Mack-Ashland III (Phase III) will be completed in the coming years and will continue to have a positive impact in the neighborhood.
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As a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank Atlanta (FHLBAtlanta), Community Housing Capital (CHC) sponsors several applications each year on behalf of its borrowers to receive an FHLB Atlanta (FHLBAtlanta) AHP award for up to $500,000 for the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, and development of affordable rental and ownership housing. In November 2019, Community HousingWorks, San Diego, received a $500,000 award through the AHP program. In addition to sponsoring borrower applications to FHLBAtlanta, CHC also provides loans to each organization to facilitate development.
In 2015, CHC provided an acquisition loan to Community HousingWorks for $822,500 to acquire a vacant 1.63-acre parcel of land with a vision to create 71 affordable homes in San Diego named the Keeler Court Apartments. The City of San Diego's 2013-2020 Housing Element notes that San Diego's market-rate rental housing is not affordable for 29% of the city's population, that is, extremely low and very low-income residents. The City's Section 8 waiting list contains over 50,000 households, and its Public Housing waiting list has over 35,000 households.
Keeler Court is located in a neighborhood with a strong demand for affordable housing. The development of the site will serve households of all sizes, particularly large families, in a transit-oriented, walkable neighborhood close to downtown job centers. The Keeler Court Apartments will also help formally homeless veterans through VASH vouchers. Similar to the application process for the Section 8 HUD housing program in California, HUD-VASH provides rental assistance by issuing federally-funded vouchers directly to landlords or housing authorities to cover a portion of the participant's rent payment. The VASH vouchers will enable disabled veterans to pay only 30% of their income for rent. Additionally, there will be 28 units set aside for residents earning less than 65% of area median income (AMI) and 42 units that serve very-low-income residents earning less than 50% AMI.