Tax credits bring millions for housing improvements
Low-income housing and historic credits are facilitating investment in the community.
Jon Toppen (from left) of Tapestry Group watches as Rome City Commissioner Evie McNiece greets Department of Community Affairs Deputy Commissioner Carmen Chubb and In-Fill Housing President Bruce Gerwig at ceremonies dedicating the renovation of the Greystone Apartments in late January.
Romans can thank two federal agencies for housing revitalization efforts undertaken in Rome over the last two decades.
The U.S. Department of Treasury offers millions of dollars in low-income housing tax credits. The U. S. Department of the Interior administers the Historic Tax Credit program that has also been used to provide financing for several local projects.
Bruce Gerwig is president of In- Fill Housing Inc., a private affiliate of the Macon Housing Authority that restored the historic Greystone Apartments at 90 E. Second Ave.
His firm — partnered with the Decatur- based Tapestry Development Group — received a combined $11 million in historic and low-income tax credits to buy and renovate the Greystone as affordable housing.
The partnership sold its tax credits to Royal Bank of Canada, which can either pay its own taxes with them or resell them. The sale reduced the amount of money the partnership had to borrow for the project.
“If you’re not paying that money back, the rents can stay affordable,” Gerwig said. “It’s that quintessential trickle- down philosophy for housing affordability.” Ron Goss (left) and Greg Sumner look at brick work in the wall at 215 Broad St. Goss said the bricks could tell amazing stories of the evolution
It cost about $ 6.5 million to renovate the Greystone, including the common areas and the roof. The purchase price brought the cost of the project to a little more than $11 million.
Without the low-income tax credit, Gerwig said it wouldn’t have been financially feasible to do the project. The historic tax credit paid for some extras.
“It’s a showplace now,” Gerwig said. “But without the funding source, it just wouldn’t have happened.”
The low- income program is administered in Georgia by the Department of Community Affairs, which issues a call for projects on an annual basis.
The South Rome Redevelopment Corp. and partner Laurel Street Residential are using low-income tax credits to
Doug Walker / Rome News-Tribune of many of the historic buildings. Sumner is using historic tax credits to develop apartments in both the 215 and 217 Broad St. buildings.
build affordable housing at three sites in South Rome.
Laurel Street expects to raise $11 million from the sale of the credits DCA awarded in 2015. Senior Vice President Lee Cochran said the company is soliciting investors who want to purchase those credits, and he expects the sale to be locked up by mid-summer.
Cochran said they’ll only need to take out a $ 750,000 loan to round out funding for the project, which would not be happening without the tax credits.
“If I was building a normal $ 12 million apartment project, I’d have to go out and borrow $ 9 or $ 10 million … and I’d
Lee Cochran
have to charge rents that allowed me to make that mortgage payment,” Cochran said. “With the tax credits, I only have to get a $ 750,000 mortgage so my rents can be much lower.”
The project consists of a three- story building with 27 apartments to replace the old McCall Apartments on South Broad; 17 duplex units on the old Anna K. Davie Elementary School property; and two multi- family structures on Etowah Terrace with a total of 23 apartments.
The Northwest Georgia Housing Authority also is involved in a tax credit partnership with Vantage Group, of Fyffe, Alabama.
The credits will finance a major overhaul of homes in the Willingham Village public housing community off Brookwood Avenue in West Rome.
Photo contributed Carolyn McFry
Historic tax credits
Historic tax credits are not necessarily linked to affordable housing. Rather, they help fund restoration of historical buildings.
Ron Goss used historic tax credits to renovate the Curry-West buildings at 9 E. Second Ave., and the work bumped up the price of the space.
Goss said there were strict requirements to protect the interior integrity.
He had to cut the number of apartments to 18 to keep certain hallways in place.
“It created bigger units, and instead of being a mid-tier loft project it really elevated us to more of an upper-tier unit than was in the market at that time,” Goss said.
Like the Greystone team, Goss sold the tax credits for his project to help offset his up- front expenses.
“It was a differencemaker. It became equity in the project,” he said.
Goss is currently assisting Greg Sumner with renovations at 215-217 Broad St., where Sumner is using both state and federal historic tax credits.
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