Round 2 of Low Income Housing Proposals Set to Begin Thursday

San Angelo has been weighing the pros and cons over the past month or so of low income housing, or as propoenents rather call it, affordable housing. Citizens have gathered at city council meetings and a lunchtime townhall meeting to voice their concerns over low-income housing in Southland. It drew crowds of opposition, flocked with drama and “not in my backyard” attitudes, as well as the verbal dismemberment of Councilman Rodney Fleming who was all for it.

The city decided in the midst of the fight over Southland's low income apartments to, in the future, hold a town hall meeting on each proposed project before council took on the particular housing project at a council meeting.

A second low income housing project will be discussed at a town hall meeting slated for Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in the McNease Convention Center.

Zimmerman Properties, LLC is the developer for Maplewood Park Apartments, which is proposed to be located at N. Bryant Blvd. and W. 33rd St. That is, if it can beat out its competition at Southland's 2900 Valleyview for a 9-percent housing tax credit, managed by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs. Both projects are in competition with projects in Odessa and Midland.

According to the TDHCA website, the boards’ decision is based on criteria such as local support, size and quality of the units, amenities and services provided, financial feasibility, and any other items that would contribute to quality affordable housing.  The TDHCA Governing Board will make their final decision regarding this issue in July.

 “There’s $700,000 available,” Robert Salas, City of San Angelo Neighborhood & Family Services Director, said when asked about the amount of funds allocable. “They’re all asking for the full amount; only one project can be awarded. They could both lose and go to Midland, you never know."

The housing tax credit offsets a portion of the federal tax liability for the developer in exchange for the production of affordable rental housing.  

Recently the city council signed a letter of support in a resolution for the Outlook on Valleyview project. The resolution demonstrates to the TDHCA Governing Board that San Angelo supports the developer’s project plan. The resolution for the project in Southland squeaked by with a 4-3 vote.

Zimmerman Properties, LLC will be asking for the same type of support when it presents its plans to the public Thursday. The resolution deadline is slated for April, raising the question as to why the Valleyview project asked for their resolution so early.

 “They were also asking for waivers of permit, and because they were asking for that, a financial incentive, they had to meet that on the Feb. 27 deadline," Salas explained. "But if they didn’t ask for that, if they are just asking for a resolution of support, that’s due in April, so we have to get it done by the end of March."

Salas is referring to a deadline for developers who have requested fee waivers from a city for things like construction permits. Some may recall that LDG Developers, who proposed the Sounthland apartments, withdrew their request for waivers of permit fees before the town hall meeting on Feb. 6.

“There are a lot of variables. For example, even though the city approved it (the resolution), you still have to get a state senator to submit a support letter as well. If you don’t get that you may be dead in the water,” Salas explained further. State Sen. Charles Perry can make or break a subsidized housing project in San Angelo.

There has been some confusion on a couple of issues regarding low income housing, one of those being where the HTC credits actually originate.

 “It is not a HUD program,” Salas said. “This is actually an IRS program funded through the Treasury Department and it (housing tax credit) goes through the state. The state monitors and manages them; every state’s got their own. The TDHCA manages the Texas program for the feds, and those feds are not HUD.

“There was some confusion about what constitutes the income cap for a potential resident,” Salas said. “It consists of 60 percent over what they call AMI (Area Median Income). So you figure out a little bit over $56,000 (annually) for San Angelo, so it’s (income cap) 60 percent of that, it’s what you work off of. There’s a bit of a sliding scale there for families, in other words a family of five is allowed to make a little more than a single person.”

If you work off of Salas’ formula, “60 percent of little over $56,000”, which projects the income cap used as a guideline during the application process, the average income would lie somewhere above the $30,000 range. We used $56,200 in this instance, which makes the average income cap equal $33,720 annually. It is notable that the example given at past meetings regarding the maximum amount one can make to qualify for housing in communities such as the proposed one has been $44,000 annually. The income cap is dependant upon family size.

However, Salas says that not all of the units in the complex are for low income qualifiers.  “Seven to ten of those units will be open market for anyone who wants them, they will not be income restricted,” he said of the Maplewood Park project.

“They (developers) have options. The rule is this: For the low income housing tax credits, you have to have at least 40 percent of the units at low income or below. Most of them like to go with more units because the more they have available, the higher they score. But, you do not have to have them all at 100 percent low income to be competitive. You can do some with mixed income, and still be competitive.”

Salas says on that basis, the Maplewood Park proposal is a mixed income project due to the fact that some units will be regularly-priced. The scoring Salas referred to are points awarded to a developer for things like getting support from local government. It is a point based competition for the housing tax credits.  

Representatives of Zimmerman Properties, LLC will be present to provide information about their housing plans, and city staff will be there to answer any questions as well. Salas added that the TDHCA will also have town hall meetings at a state level to gather input on these proposed projects. For information on such meetings and more info on the 9-percent HTC visit tdhca.state.tx.us

A townhall meeting will be held this Thursday March 5 at 6:30 p.m., in the McNease Convention Center located at 500 Rio Concho Dr.