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The Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority has chosen three Indianapolis housing projects in its most recent round of tax credit financing.
Bridges Townhomes on the east side, Grand Meridian on the near-north side and Richardson Townhomes at the Central State Hospital campus each received tax credits as part of the 9% Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program for 2024. The program is designed to provide incentives to developers for the acquisition, construction, and rehabilitation of affordable rental housing for low- and moderate-income tenants.
The three projects in Indianapolis were among 17 to be awarded the 9% federal tax credits through the IHCDA. The credits total more than $190 million in value over 10 years for the development or preservation of 872 total affordable housing units.
The projects were selected from 35 applicants across the state. IHCDA tends to prioritize developments focused on offering tenants access to supportive services, as well as mass transit, retail, healthcare services and employment opportunities.
The IHCDA also recently approved financing measures for other housing projects. Through tax credits, tax-exempt bonds and loans, the IHCDA approved investments worth $557 million for 2,429 units across the state.
“These awards are a major investment in our state’s housing infrastructure,” said Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, Indiana’s Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development, in a media release. “The proposed developments will help meet the need to house our workforce and will bring thousands of affordable housing units to communities across Indiana.”
Through the LIHTC program, the federal government issues tax credits to state and territorial governments. State housing agencies then award the credits to developers of affordable rental housing projects through a competitive process. Crouch oversees the IHCDA in an administrative role and worked with the agency’s board of directors and a selection committee to determine tax credit recipients.
Developers generally sell the credits to private investors to obtain funding.
The projects in Indianapolis account for 177 apartment and townhome units. Two of the projects are for new construction, and the other is for a rehab.
A full list of projects incentivized by the 2024 Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program can be found here, but readers can look below to get a closer look at the Indianapolis-area projects that were selected by the IHCDA for the 9% credit program.
Bridges Townhomes
East-side Indianapolis community development group Englewood Community Development Corp. is partnering with Indianapolis-based Gratus Development to build a 43-unit apartment project near Wheeler Mission’s Center for Women and Children.
Called Bridges Townhomes, the project is expected to cost $15.1 million and be constructed on 1.75 acres along the east side of LaSalle Street, between St. Clair and North streets.
Bridges received a $1.2 million annual credit for the project over the next 10 years, as well as a $750,000 development fund via the Indiana Affordable Housing and Community Development Fund.
The project will consist of two- and three-bedroom for-rent townhouses across seven buildings, with most set aside for individuals and families making 60% to 80% of the area’s median income. Twelve units will be for permanent supportive housing—for families that have experienced homelessness and have received services through Wheeler Mission, which is also a partner in the project.
The standard town homes would range from 900 square feet to nearly 1,300 square feet, while larger flat units would have 1,800 square feet in a two-bedroom layout and about 2,500 square feet in the three-bedroom design.
The project is also expected to feature 28 off-street parking spaces, accessed from an alley east of LaSalle. Another 21 on-street spaces would be available along LaSalle Street, with five along St. Clair Street and four along North Street.
The land on which the project will be built—part of the 50-acre former Sherman Park and RCA property—is currently owned by the city’s Department of Metropolitan Development, but will be transferred to Englewood CDC in support of the project.
Construction is expected to start in the second quarter of 2024 and be completed by the end of 2025.
Indianapolis-based firms Wove Design and Anderson + Bohlander LLC are the project architect and the landscape architect, respectively.
Grand Meridian
Indianapolis-based TWG Development LLC is spending $16.1 million to renovate all 96 units in the vacant Grand Meridian apartment building at 3470 N. Meridian St., along with the property’s windows, roofing and other infrastructure.
Constructed in 1951, the building after renovation is expected to consist almost entirely of affordable housing units for individuals and families making anywhere from 30% to 60% of the area’s median income. One unit will be market rate, according to the company’s application with the state.
The project received a $1.2 million annual credit over the next 10 years, as well as a $750,000 development fund via the Indiana Affordable Housing and Community Development Fund.
Grand Meridian has been vacant for several years. It has 70 studio units and 26 one-bedroom units. Kelly said the renovation will focus mostly on the interior, with the facade of the building expected to remain largely the same.
The property was acquired for $1.2 million in December 2022 from Richard & Son LLC, and TWG received a loan from the city to initially defray that expense.
Work is expected to begin work on the building by spring 2024, with a one-year turnaround. TWG will begin leasing the building once construction is completed.
Richardson Townhomes
Ohio developer Woda Cooper Development Inc. plans to spend $14.2 million to develop at least 40 homes on a seven-acre tract of land on the western edge of the Central State Hospital campus in Indianapolis.
The Richardson Townhomes project is part of a larger plan for the site at 50 N. Tibbs Ave. that Woda Cooper unveiled earlier this year. The project calls for another 136 apartments—also focused on affordability—to be constructed on the property, although those were not part of the company’s application to the state.
Woda received a $1.2 million annual credit for the townhouse project, which will feature eight structures containing four to six attached single-family homes each. The project will also receive a $750,000 development fund via the Indiana Affordable Housing and Community Development Fund.
Half of the townhomes are expected to have two bedrooms, with the other half featuring three bedrooms, he said. The units would be made available for purchase after 15 years.
The other portion of the project is expected to consist of consist of two apartment building with 96 and 40 units, respectively. The development would also feature 204 surface parking spaces, a co-working space and outdoor picnic areas. In total, the company plans to spend about $51 million to develop the site.
Woda was selected by the city’s Department of Metropolitan Development in 2022 following a request-for-proposals process for the Central State campus. The company also completed the 61-unit Proctor Place project on the campus in 2022.
Construction on the townhomes project is expected to begin in fall 2024 and conclude about one year later.
Inside Indiana Business reporter Carley Lanich contributed to this story.
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From the article: “The credits total more than $190 million in value over 10 years for the development or preservation of 872 total affordable housing units.”
From the Lt. Governor: “The proposed developments will help meet the need to house our workforce and will bring thousands of affordable housing units to communities across Indiana.”
So, is it 872 or thousands of units?
The Lt. Gov was referring to the total state affordable housing developments that will yield 2,429 units. The 17 projects receiving the tax crediting financing make up a portion of the larger total, and these 17 projects will yield 872 units.