Comite approved for $2M tax credits for investment in San Luis apartment project
SAN LUIS, Ariz. – The Comite de Bien Estar will be able to offer $2 million in federal tax credits as incentives to attract investors in a planned apartment complex in San Luis for low-income families.
Valley View apartments is one of 13 projects around the state approved by the Arizona Department of Housing for the credits through the state agency’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program for 2020.
Tony Reyes, executive director of Comite, said he hopes the inducement of tax credits will enable the San Luis-based nonprofit organization to line up financing by the end of the year for the 100-unit apartment complex planned on the city’s north side.
“This is one of the first steps in a long process for the project, but it is very good news, because the program is very competitive,” Reyes said. “Thirty or 40 agencies apply each year for those tax credits, and only about 15 are approved.
“Besides that,” he added, “it was our first application, and we had never achieved that before.”
The Valley View complex is one of 13 low-income housing projects for which the Arizona Department of Housing has set aside a total of nearly $20.6 million in federal tax credits for 2020.
Reyes said he hopes construction can begin on the apartment complex in early 2021.
In March, the San Luis City Council rezoned 14.4 acres of land from rural to residential use to allow for construction of the apartments, followed by construction of condominiums that would also be managed by Comite. The site is west of 4th Avenue and about a quarter-mile north of Union Street.
“This project is going to mean a rather strong push in development in that area,” Reyes said. “It’s going to attract infrastructure, new residents, a school-age population and (stimulate) the economy. It’s demonstrating that housing is the main element of economic development in San Luis.”
While most residential development in the rapidly growing border city has consisted of construction of individual homes, affordable apartments are also in demand among residents, Reyes said. He believes that need was one of the reasons the housing department approved the tax credits for the San Luis project.
According to plans, the Valley View complex will consist of 13 buildings housing two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments, plus an administrative office, storage area, laundry room and a 3,000-square-foot multi-use center for residents. There will also be an outdoor recreation area that will include children’s playground equipment.
Tenants will be low-income families that qualify for subsidized rents.
Plans call for the complex to be completed by the end of 2021, although Reyes said units could be opened and occupied in phases before then.
Comite got its start about four decades ago as a housing cooperative whose members, many of them recently having emigrated from Mexico, pooled their money to purchase land and build homes for themselves. In the years since, it has branched out to offer a variety of other housing as well as social services in San Luis. Throughout its existence, its executive director has been Reyes, who today is also a Yuma County supervisor.
Valley View represents one of the largest projects undertaken by Comite, apart from the 9A and 9B subdivisions it has developed on the city’s east side over the years.
Comite previously received tax credits from the Arizona Department of Housing in 2016 for the Las Brisas Sunset Apartments, located north of the planned site of Valley View. It received credits for that project after applying four times for the incentives.