Stories indexed with the term ‘low income tax credits’

Public Housing Conversion Takes Next Step

Ann Arbor housing commission meeting (Jan. 15, 2014): Transitions for Ann Arbor’s public housing will continue in the new year, even while the housing commission is also dealing with the aftermath of a major fire in one of its complexes.

Christopher Geer, Ron Woods, Marta Manildi, Ann Arbor Housing Commission, The Ann Arbor Chronicle

From left: Ann Arbor housing commission board members Christopher Geer, Ron Woods and Marta Manildi at the AAHC Jan. 15, 2014 meeting, held at Baker Commons. Not pictured here is Tim Colenback, the newest appointment to the AAHC board. Gloria Black, who represents AAHC residents, was absent. (Photos by the writer.)

At their first meeting of the year, commissioners were briefed about the impact and aftermath of a Jan. 8 fire at Green Baxter Court, a public housing complex on Green Road next to Baxter Park on the city’s east side. They heard from Joan Doughty, executive director of Community Action Network, which operates a community center at that complex under contract with the city. CAN staff are helping AAHC provide support for families who were displaced by the fire.

At their Jan. 15 meeting, board members authorized up to $9,000 in extra funds to help pay for that emergency work. CAN is also seeking additional donations from the community.

In separate action, the board amended Chapter 14 of its housing choice voucher administrative plan to include a preference for families that have been involuntarily displaced due to a fire, natural disaster or any other reason. The vouchers would be used to subsidize rental housing, if no units are available in the city’s public housing system.

The Jan. 15 meeting also included an update from Lori Harris, vice president with Norstar Development, on a major initiative to upgrade the city’s public housing units. Specifically, she presented Norstar’s recommendation for an equity partner to purchase low-income housing tax credits awarded by the state to AAHC late last year. The board approved the recommended firm, Red Stone Equity Partners.

Investors had responded positively to Norstar’s request for proposals, Harris said, with higher-than-expected offers. “You have a very, very good story here, and it’s played very, very well in this process,” she told the board. The tax-credit transaction will provide the majority of funding for renovating five public housing complexes: Miller Manor, South Maple, Baker Commons, Hikone and Green Baxter. These properties make up the majority of public housing units in the AAHC portfolio – 248 out of a total 326 units.

However, AAHC executive director Jennifer Hall told the board that additional funding will still be required. As part of that, the AAHC is requesting $600,000 from the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority. Hall said she expects the DDA board to make a decision on that by March or April. The DDA previously gave the housing commission a $300,000 grant for capital improvements at Baker Commons, which is located within the DDA district. That approval came in March of 2013. And in October 2012, the DDA had provided a $260,000 grant primarily for replacing the Baker Commons roof.

In other action, the AAHC board approved a 3% cost-of-living adjustment for Hall, in line with other COLA increases given to city employees. The board also authorized changing the way its minutes are kept in order to begin using the city’s online Legistar system. The new approach will be less detailed in reporting deliberations, and will primarily provide a report on the outcome of action items. Currently, AAHC board minutes and board packets aren’t part of Legistar, but are provided on the AAHC page of the city’s website. Minutes from the AAHC board meetings are also attached to the city council agenda as an item of communication.

And near the end of the meeting, commissioner Marta Manildi reported that she is not seeking reappointment. Her term ends this spring, but she has offered to step down early. She was praised for her work in helping lead the AAHC through a difficult transition several years ago. Speaking during public commentary, Doughty said Manildi “really led the charge for a turnaround that’s been amazing to witness.”

A week later, at the Ann Arbor city council’s Jan. 21 meeting, mayor John Hieftje nominated Daniel Lee to serve out the rest of Manildi’s term. A confirmation vote is expected at the council’s Feb. 3 meeting. Hieftje described Manildi’s service on the commission as profound and beneficial. [Full Story]

Work Progresses on Public Housing Overhaul

The Ann Arbor housing commission board was updated recently about efforts to renovate and redevelop the city’s public housing properties, a massive undertaking that’s been in the works for more than a year.

Lori Harris, Norstar Development, Ann Arbor housing commission, The Ann Arbor Chronicle

Lori Harris, Norstar Development senior project manager, describes a potential site plan for redeveloping the Ann Arbor housing commission’s North Maple complex. Harris and Norstar president Rick Higgins attended the AAHC board’s June 19, 2013 meeting. (Photos by the writer.)

Norstar Development president Rick Higgins and Lori Harris, the firm’s senior project manager, briefed commissioners at the board’s June 19, 2013 meeting. The board had selected Norstar as a co-developer for this overhaul in January.

Norstar’s presentation included a review of the two low-income housing tax credit applications that the AAHC plans to make in August to the state of Michigan. The applications will cover a total of five public housing properties: Miller Manor, South Maple, Baker Commons, Hikone and Green/Baxter complexes. These properties make up the bulk of public housing units in the AAHC portfolio – 248 out of a total 326 units.

If approved, the tax credits would provide a large funding source for renovating those properties. It’s part of Norstar’s effort to help AAHC convert Ann Arbor’s public housing units into public/private partnerships through a new rental assistance demonstration program, known as RAD, offered by the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). AAHC was accepted into the program late last year. The goal is to allow AAHC to use private financing for capital improvements in its existing housing stock, which is decades-old and in need of major upgrades.

The Ann Arbor city council signed off on this process by unanimously passing a slate of resolutions at its June 3, 2013 meeting. One of the most crucial actions was approval of an ownership transfer for public housing properties – from the city of Ann Arbor to the housing commission. AAHC has managed, but does not own the properties.

As part of the tax credit application review process, Norstar representatives described the financing and legal structure to be used in renovating these first five properties. Among the challenges is the potential need for significant asbestos abatement at most of the locations, as well as major HVAC infrastructure upgrades at Miller Manor. Higgins indicated that he’s somewhat worried about the budget for these renovations, and thought it might be necessary to seek additional funding from the city and other sources.

In addition to the five initial properties that will be renovated, Norstar also is developing site plans – working with AAHC and the city’s planning staff – for four AAHC complexes that will likely be demolished and, with some exceptions, rebuilt: North Maple Estates, Platt Road, White/State/Henry, and Broadway Terrace. Redevelopment of these sites, particularly at North Maple Estates and on Platt Road, is expected to add 26 new units to the city’s low-income housing stock.

Related to this conversion process, no action was taken by the AAHC board on June 19 . Jennifer Hall, AAHC executive director, told commissioners that she plans to bring forward a voting item for them at their July 17 meeting – related to amending the city’s RAD application. The original application covered only about 80% of AAHC properties, but now the goal is to include all properties in the RAD conversion. Hall noted that because Norstar representatives were in town on the date of the June 19 board meeting, she’d asked them to brief commissioners on the redevelopment efforts so far. [Full Story]

Ann Arbor Looks to Future: Housing, Transit

Ann Arbor city council meeting (June 3, 2013): At a meeting that lasted until nearly 1 a.m., the council took major steps that will affect the future of services in two core areas: housing and transportation.

Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) and Ann Arbor Housing Commission Executive Director Jennifer Hall.

Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) and Ann Arbor Housing Commission executive director Jennifer Hall. (Photos by the writer.)

On the housing side, a unanimous vote of the council approved the transfer of ownership for city properties managed by the Ann Arbor Housing Commission (AAHC) to the commission itself – an arrangement that’s actually more common across housing commissions in other cities. That step will allow conversion of the AAHC’s 355 public housing units to a project-based voucher system under HUD’s Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program. AAHC will then be pursuing low-income housing tax credits through a ground lease of the properties to a private/public limited partnership. The tax credits are intended to fund several million dollars in needed capital improvements to the existing properties, as well as build 20-30 new units.

Other unanimous votes related to the AAHC’s plan included: a resolution to approve a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) for the properties now owned by AAHC – so that no property taxes will be owed; a resolution declaring that AAHC employees are and will remain city employees; and a $200,000 allocation from the city’s affordable housing trust fund to support improvements to Miller Manor.

On the transportation side, the council unanimously authorized membership of the city of Ypsilanti in the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority, by approving changes to the articles of incorporation for the AATA. The number of board seats is expanded from seven to nine, with one of the seats to be appointed by the city of Ypsilanti. The transportation authority will go by the name Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority. The board of the AATA and the city of Ypsilanti also will need to formally approve the new articles, but are expected to do that in a straightforward fashion.

While the amendment of the articles of incorporation changes only the governance of the AAATA, the intent is to provide the potential for increased transportation funding. The AAATA could, with voter approval, levy a uniform millage on all member jurisdictions of the authority – now the cities of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. It’s a right the current AATA already has, but has never exercised. Each city itself already levies a transit millage, and transmits the proceeds of those taxes to the AATA. For Ypsilanti, the advantage of a transit authority millage is that it would not count against the state constitutional 20-mill cap that a city can levy – a cap that Ypsilanti has already reached.

Deliberations on those two agenda items – housing and transportation – did not begin until after 11 p.m.

Taking an hour of the council’s time before that was a debate on a change to the city’s public art ordinance. The council unanimously supported eliminating the requirement of an automatic 1% set-aside for public art in the budget for every capital project – known as Percent for Art. But lengthy deliberations unfolded about an additional change: A provision that would allow for the return of previous years’ public art allocations to their funds of origin.

The ordinance revision that had already been given initial approval by the council allowed for such a return just for the FY 2014 public art set-asides. In the end, the council opted for an ordinance change that did not provide for a return of previous years’ public art allocations. That leaves roughly $845,000 in funds that can be used for the public art program as defined in the revised ordinance – one that places the onus on city staff to identify capital improvement projects that might be suitable for incorporating public art.

Another significant item on the council’s June 3 agenda was a resolution encouraging the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority to allocate funding for three police officers. That resolution passed on an 8-2 vote. The council also gave final approval to utility rate increases (an annual item) and a reduction in utility improvement charges imposed on first-time connections.

Other business included final approval of rezoning requests for Parkway Place and State Street Center. The Parkway Place rezoning – at 490 Huron Parkway – was from R3 (townhouse dwelling district) to R1B (single-family dwelling district). The State Street Center rezoning, near the intersection of South State and Ellsworth, was from O (office district) to C3 (fringe commercial district).

In anticipation of the upcoming July 4 holiday, the council took initial action on an ordinance that would restrict use of fireworks to the hours of 8 a.m. to midnight.

During public commentary, the topic of Pizza in the Park was reprised as a theme from the council’s previous meeting. Advocates for the homeless community lobbied for a written commitment from the city that a parks and recreation fee would not be imposed on a church that distributes food and other aid at Liberty Plaza, a downtown city park. [Full Story]