John Rebchook is a former Rocky Mountain News reporter with more than 30 years of experience in writing and communications... Colorado today become one of the first states to tap into the Tax Credit Assistance Program funds created for affordable housing development and preservation in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Colorado’s share of the TCAP funds comes to $27.3 million.
Colorado Housing and Finance Authority, which is administering the TCAP funds, has awarded
Community Housing Concepts, Inc. $1.7 million of the funds to purchase and renovate Denver Gardens, a 100-unit affordable senior apartment complex in southeast Denver.
The award will support CHC’s plans to upgrade the property, originally built in 1979, while still maintaining its affordability for residents. Completion of Denver Garden’s $14 million purchase and renovation is estimated to spur $29.8 million in economic impact and support 222 jobs.
“CHFA has been very focused on implementing the TCAP program as fairly and quickly as possible to ensure consistency with the stimulus bill’s goals of job creation and economic investment within our community,” said Milroy A. Alexander, CHFA’s executive director and CEO said.
“This first TCAP award will bring a renewed quality of life for the seniors living at Denver Gardens, while still ensuring the affordability of the units is maintained, ” Alexander added.
Additional financing for the Denver Gardens project has been obtained through Citi Community Capital and from the sale of $758,970 in Low Income Housing Tax Credits awarded to CHC by CHFA earlier this year.
“Denver Gardens represents the type of necessary and worthwhile affordable housing project that has encountered difficulties obtaining financing in the current lending environment,” said Brian Dale, director for Citi Community Capital. ” Moving forward on the $14 million deal would not have been possible without CHFA’s TCAP award and the speed of their approval.”
The purchaser of the tax credits, WNC & Associates, is contributing $5.5 million in equity to the project.
“The speed with which CHFA implemented this new financing tool was breathtaking,” said Michael Byrd, WNC’s project manager for Denver Gardens. “The TCAP funds were truly the funds that leveraged all of the project financing sources and moved this $14 million investment forward.”
CHC proposes to update the property’s individual units with energy efficient windows and appliances, as well as painting and adding bathroom amenities for residents. Among the exterior improvements planned are updating the exterior siding, trim, painting, and concrete repairs.
With the rising cost of energy and the negative effects large properties can have on the environment, improving the “green” rating on Denver Gardens is one of CHC’s primary concerns. CHC received a pledge for grant money from the Governor’s Energy Office and Energy Outreach Colorado which CHC will allocate towards components such as photovoltaic panels being placed on the building’s rooftop.
Denver’s Road Home has also pledged grant money for the project as several units will be set aside for homeless and at-risk individuals. Funding from Denver’s Road Home will be used for services to be provided for all of Denver Gardens’ residents.
“We are very excited to partner with CHFA, the Governor’s Energy Office, and Denver’s Road Home on this project,” said Hud Karshmer, president of CHC. “Without the award of TCAP funds from CHFA, we would not have the resources to complete the much needed rehabilitation on Denver Gardens.”
“Thanks to their quick and efficient implementation efforts, Colorado is one of the first states in the nation to put Recovery Act funds to work to jump-start low income housing construction, which will help to jump-start the state’s economy,” said U.S. HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, in a statement.
“The TCAP program will significantly boost efforts to put the people back to work across the state while providing quality, affordable housing options for low-income families at a time when those options are critical,” Donovan added.
For more information: chfainfo.com.
[...] Colorado one of the first states to tap federal tax-credit funds … [...]