NMTC

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Created: 27 April 2022

NeighborWorks Columbus (NWC) is one of five non-profit recipients of Community Housing Capital's (CHC) $30 million New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation. With a $6 million NMTC allocation from CHC, NWC plans to construct approximately 26 single-family homes in South Columbus, Georgia's new Elliott's Walk subdivision. The subdivision is the first new housing in south Columbus designed for homeownership in over 50 years. The project was the dream of Hal Averett, a local housing advocate who passed away in 2018. He partnered with NW Columbus to plan the affordable development that will soon become a 33-acre residential development with ample green space, easily accessible schools, parks, public transportation, and even 18+ acres of natural preserve. Home prices will range from $120,000 - $160,000, and with a sizeable list of customers, NWC estimates that 60% of homebuyers will also qualify for Local Incentive Programs for down payment assistance.

Created on 27 April 2022

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Created: 27 April 2022

Avenue CDC is one of five non-profit recipients of Community Housing Capital’s (CHC) $30 million New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation. With a $5 million NMTC allocation from CHC, Avenue CDC plans to build approximately sixteen affordable homes at three different sites in the Northline community of Houston, Texas. CHC’s NMTC allocation and source loan will allow Avenue CDC to sell the homes at a lower price while not sacrificing construction quality.

Avenue CDC’s mission to provide affordable homeownership opportunities in Houston’s high-cost market has been challenging. The highly distressed census tracts they revitalize through affordable new home construction experience a poverty rate as high as 35.30%, an area median income (AMI) as low as 41.65%, and an unemployment rate as high as 11.70%. Avenue CDC’s proposed average sales price of $265,000 is below most of the maximum mortgage amounts at even the 80% AMI level, making the proposed homes affordable for many homebuyers of varying family sizes.

Avenue CDC will provide pre-purchase financial counseling, homebuyer education, realtor services, and post-purchase counseling and support. Qualified homebuyers earning up to 80% AMI can also use city and county down payment assistance programs that offer up to $30,000 and include 0% interest and forgiveness after five years of occupancy.

Created on 27 April 2022

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Created: 28 March 2022

One of five NeighborWorks organizations selected by CHC for its first NMTC award was Neighborhood Housing Services of Baltimore (NHS). NHS will use the allocation to build 30 new homes in an area of sweeping economic development and revitalization.

NHS targeted a 7-block area to build 100 affordable homes within five years. "It's almost impossible to scale transformative work that also requires subsidy," said Dan Ellis, Executive Director & CEO of NHS Baltimore. "We use the limited subsidies we receive to get past the tipping point where we can now do the houses in this neighborhood without it. Then we move on to the next neighborhood where we do some work, but now the private market begins to do its work. That's what we're trying to do, stimulate the market to work for quality, affordable homeownership. With the help of Community Housing Capital's NMTC allocation, we believe we can get it done within three years."

"Homeownership is the greatest wealth-building tool unless you're Black in Baltimore," said Dan Ellis, Executive Director at Neighborhood Housing Services of Baltimore. "Because in Black neighborhoods in Baltimore, properties don't appreciate the way they do in non-minority neighborhoods. Community Housing Capital's investment enables us to build wealth in a community where there has been none."

Created on 28 March 2022

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Created: 28 March 2022

One of five recipients of CHC's $30 million NMTC allocation is Piedmont Housing Alliance in Charlottesville, Virginia. They plan to use tax credits from CHC for two projects. One involves a neighborhood where the opportunity for wealth creation has been stripped away over 15- years of intense gentrification pressure. The other is part of a redevelopment project that will become a true mixed-income and mixed-use community.

Charlottesville is a land-locked city that cannot expand due to agreements with the County, so the finite amount of land available means the pressure on housing costs is intense. In one historically Black neighborhood, the last 15 years has seen the neighborhood transform from primarily homeownership to one that market-rate developers and rentals have taken over. With the average price of these 1200 square foot, three-bedroom homes selling for more than $400,000, the existing lower-income residents have been pushed out. With the help of a good-hearted seller, PHA was able to buy five homes at a break-even price for the seller. After renovations, PHA will use NMTC as a critical subsidy that will make them available down to 35% AMI.

PHA's second NMTC subsidized project involved a partnership with Charlottesville's local chapter of Habitat for Humanity. Habitat had purchased a trailer park over a decade ago because it was at risk of being purchased by a developer with plans to demolish it for new market-rate homes. Over the last five years, Habitat has worked with the existing residents to prepare for the park's redevelopment while ensuring affordability and zero displacements of existing residents. Redevelopment plans for the adjacent vacant land to the trailer park include affordable for-sale single-family homes, townhomes, and affordable rental homes. While under construction for PHA's first LIHTC project of 121 rental homes and in the process of building the first batch of 20 homes built using the Habitat Homeownership model, they ran into unanticipated construction cost increases that threatened affordability. The budget for remediation of damage caused by the trailer park's failed septic system was estimated at $2 million but rose to $10 million during the pandemic. The impact on affordability would have been devastating.

“Without the NMTCs, Habitat would have had to raise their AMI target from 34% AMI to 50%-60% AMI. The NMTC piece on these first 20 homes will help ensure we can get the depth of affordability that the neighborhood deserves,” said Sunshine Mathon, Executive Director, Piedmont Housing Alliance.

Created on 28 March 2022