Why Affordable Housing Will Be More Difficult To Finance
It has always been tough to put together financing for affordable housing, but now there is an added layer of uncertainty about the future of getting those deals done.
Koelbel & Co. vice president Carl Koelbel, who will be a speaker at our Denver Multifamily & Mixed Use event next week, said the development of affordable housing in Denver will become increasingly difficult over the next couple of years due to a number of factors.
For one thing, the surprise election of President Donald Trump caused the Low Income Housing Tax Credit markets to re-examine their pricing in light of potential tax code changes. "This has caused a great deal of turmoil in the market and has generally resulted in less dollars available for affordable developments. That dynamic coupled with continuing increases in land and construction costs have severely limited the number of deals that make economic sense.”
Koelbel & Co.'s most recent affordable mixed-use project, undertaken in partnership with Trailbreak Partners, is Sloans on the former St. Anthony Hospital site. Plans for the site, known as Block 3, include restoration of the Kuhlman Building to provide 49 affordable units; as many as 27 market-rate row houses on West 17th Avenue, Quitman Street and West 16th Avenue; and a new 2,200 SF café.
The project is receiving low-income housing tax credits, tax-increment financing from the Denver Urban Renewal Authority and a performance loan from the Denver Office of Economic Development. "Sloans Block 3 will be an active community that includes a diverse mix of housing and commercial uses to enhance the legacy of St. Anthony's," Koelbel said.
Find out more about affordable and market-rate housing projects at our Denver Multifamily & Mixed Use event, which will be at Halcyon Cherry Creek on Feb. 23 beginning at 7:30 a.m. with breakfast and schmoozing.
