July 24, 2019 | From City of New Orleans
City of New Orleans Partners with State of Louisiana for Affordable Housing Funding
NEW ORLEANS – Affordable housing development projects in New Orleans recently received more than $28 million worth of tax credits and block grants through partnerships with the State of Louisiana, the City’s Office of Community Development announced.
The funding came through the Louisiana Housing Corporation’s (LHC) 2019 Piggyback Awards, which helps create multifamily housing opportunities. Overall, these developments received a total of $3,885,686 in Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) and $24,509,820 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding. Together these developments will produce 642 affordable residences.
"Creating and sustaining affordable housing is an existential crisis that our city is facing," said Mayor LaToya Cantrell. "My administration and I have worked for months to foster this partnership with LHC to secure this funding for the City and that the funding would go towards impactful and sustainable housing initiatives. We are committed to leveraging the resources of all available partners to address our city’s affordable housing crisis by giving both our developers and residents the opportunities they need to build and find a home. Through this funding from LHC, we will be able to increase the supply of new homes, preserve affordability and safeguard the quality and accessibility of our housing."
The LHC also agreed to work with the City to address its concerns about the preliminary guidelines stated in the draft 2019 Qualified Allocation Plan, the guide by which LIHTC are awarded. The City requested LHC to include language that would facilitate the use of Mortgage Revenue Bonds (MRB), a critical financing tool, on a local level through a partnership between the City and the Finance Authority of New Orleans (FANO).
The City also urged the LHC to allow for higher than normal development costs to account for unique building challenges in New Orleans, such as elevation requirements. Finally, the City requested elimination of provisions in the plan that would hinder urban development.
In another positive sign of improved relations between New Orleans and the State, the LHC has agreed to allow the City to handle a portion of the environment review process when federal funds are provided from both city and state offices instead of the offices completing the same steps.
Marjorianna Willman, the City’s Director of Housing Policy and Community Development, noted that the City is testing this new collaborative approach on the Oretha Castle Haley School Redevelopment Project (one of the newly awarded projects), and has additionally received approval from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development on this approach.
"If successful, we will decrease the amount of time needed for projects to receive the environmental approval required to begin development and therefore accelerate the pace of development," Ms. Willman said.
Ellen M. Lee, the City's Director of Community and Economic Development, said, "We are encouraged that the State will continue to work with us in prioritizing resources, being flexible in guidelines, creating efficiencies, and supporting partnerships with FANO and developers to create the affordable housing that New Orleans needs."
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