PORT TOWNSEND — An affordable housing complex envisioned at the corner of Seventh and Hendricks streets likely will be put on hold for this year.
Olympic Community Action Programs (OlyCAP) was put on the waiting list along with seven other non-metro projects for the state’s low-income housing tax credits program, pausing a projected $14.5 million project that would build 43 apartments in Port Townsend.
“The agency has been working for two years to get the Seventh and Hendricks project fully funded, and the tax credits are the last hurdle remaining,” OlyCAP officials said in a press release.
OlyCAP was seeking about $10.2 million from the program.
A stakeholder meeting for the state Housing Finance Commission is scheduled for March 4 in Seattle, OlyCAP Executive Director Cherish Cronmiller said.
Although some project scoring may change based on partner input at the meeting, there are seven projects ahead of OlyCAP on the waiting list, Cronmiller said.
“You never know who might be in the competition pool for [low-income housing tax credits], so funding is never a guarantee,” she said. “However, the agency has a strong application and scored well for a rural project.
“We will look to maximize our points in order to be more competitive next round. The agency has invested a lot of time, energy and money into this process, so we are not giving up any time soon.”
OlyCAP was awarded a $2.9 million grant from the state Department of Commerce in December that retired Executive Director Dale Wilson called the “keystone of success” for the project.
That was in addition to a $500,000 Affordable Housing Program grant the organization received from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines, Iowa.
The proposal is to build six studio apartments, 18 one-bedroom units, 15 two-bedroom units and four three-bedroom units for people who have incomes below 50 percent of Jefferson County’s median income.
The agency also has 32 Section 8 vouchers from the Housing Authority, and they will be available for re-application next year, Cronmiller said.
She added the OlyCAP board met last week and discussed what they believe is a lack of geographic fairness in the awards.
“The Peninsula should have been due for this money,” Cronmiller said, adding she was attempting to research the last time any type of tax credits were awarded in either Jefferson or Clallam counties.
The agency will be able to hold onto the grants it previously has been awarded, Cronmiller said.
The only one that has an expiration is the award from Commerce, which is good for a two-year period, she said.
“The money we got for early childhood center and some of the other miscellaneous sources will be put on hold,” Cronmiller said.
She added the agency has about $70,000 in pre-development loans it will have to pay back.
“The agency has spent over $200,000 in development costs, but that’s not unusual in a project like this,” she said.
OlyCAP will have to perform another market analysis next year due to increasing construction costs.
A new application for 2021 will cost about $10,000, Cronmiller said.
“We would love to look at any other options out there for us, any other possible funders,” she said.
“Once you do one of these projects, it’s great because you can build equity to help fund additional projects.”
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Jefferson County Managing Editor Brian McLean can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 6, or at bmclean@peninsuladailynews.com.
