Four Detroit Projects Selected For Preservation By Development Authority

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Mayor Mike Duggan today announced that the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) today selected four major housing projects in Detroit to receive a limited number of nine percent low income housing tax credits (LIHTC) meant to create or preserve 385 units of affordable housing throughout the city.

The four developments represent a combined investment of $110 million and are receiving $4.4 million in tax credits from MSHDA. They are spread across several Detroit Neighborhoods, including Brush Park, Midtown, Oakman Boulevard Community, and Core City Neighborhoods.

A total of 271 existing affordable housing units that were set to expire soon will be renovated allowing them to maintain their affordable status for another 30 years. An additional 114 new affordable units, nearly half of which will be for families earning less than 30 percent of the area’s Average Median Income (AMI), will be built.

“What makes this so important is that we will be able to guarantee that 271 existing affordable housing units will keep their status for another 30 years,” says Mayor Duggan. “That represents 271 families that know they will be able to afford to stay in their homes and take part in the recovery they have waited so long to see.”

To complete the projects, developers working with the City’s Department of Housing & Revitalization applied for and were awarded a series of 9 percent LIHTCs, which are valuable and competitive affordable housing tools since it leverages up to 90 percent in equity to build affordable housing units. The LIHTCs will also give the developers the ability to serve families and individuals who earn below 30 percent AMI, including those who have experienced homelessness.

The selected projects include:

  • Roberts III, where all 197 units will be preserved as affordable housing for the senior citizen residents. Incomes at the complex range from 60 percent to less than 30 percent of AMI. The project has received project based vouchers from the Detroit Housing Commission to support the lower income units. The total cost for this project will be $16.4 million.
  • Ryan Court II, in which all 74 units will be preserved as affordable housing. The incomes at this complex also range from 60 percent to less than 30 percent of AMI. The development, which spans several blocks near Oakman and Livernois, will include a mix of new construction and rehabilitation of older buildings. Construction will be split into two phases. Phase one will preserve existing affordable housing units with new construction through an investment of $16 million. Phase two will total nine million dollars.
  • Peterboro, where 56 units (42 two-bedroom units and 14 three-bedroom units) of Permanent Supportive Housing targeted to homeless families who meet MSHDA’s criteria for Permanent Supportive Housing. In order to support these families, Coalition on Temporary Shelter will be requesting 38 project based vouchers from MSHDA and has already received conditional awards for nine project based vouchers from the Detroit Housing Commission and project rental assistance for nine units through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s section 811 program. The total project cost will be $14.5 million.
  • Brush Park South, in which 58 (20 percent) of the 287 units in the new mixed-income construction development will be reserved for residents earning 60 percent AMI or less. The project will rehabilitate 19 vacant city owned parcels. It is being supported by $2.3 million in HOME funds, which are grants to states and units of local general government for affordable housing. This project is also supported by the Detroit Housing Commission through project based vouchers. The project will cost an estimated $70 million.

In total, these awards to the city of Detroit represent approximately 40 percent of the available 9 percent LIHTCs statewide in this round of applications.

“After many months of work to shape a project pipeline with MSHDA that reflects both state and city investment priorities, this set of project awards is real progress,” says Arthur Jemison, director of Housing & Revitalization. “It includes projects in our target areas for residential density; creates mixed-income in downtown midtown; addresses family homelessness; and preserves key assets threatened with expiration and obsolescence.”