U.S. Senator Ron Wyden met with affordable housing advocates at an apartment complex in Springfield today. Funding models and credits were discussed among them and reporters.
Hayden Bridge Landing opened last year. It houses over a hundred individuals, including nine families displaced by the Holiday Farm Fire.
Spencer McCoy, a project developer for Homes4Good, said his organization used a low-income housing tax credit for this development.
“…which pays for about 30% of your overall project costs. So you still need to pay for the remaining 70% in order to make these projects work,” explained McCoy. “And because we’re charging very low rents, we can’t borrow as much money as a private developer can, so we’re typically only paying for a small percentage for the project using a loan.”
McCoy said other gap financing sources come into play, then. This includes tax-exempt bonds and deferred developer fees.
Homes4Good says the average rent at Hayden Bridge is $330 a month.
Meanwhile, Wyden said he’s working to make sure all Oregonians can have access to affordable housing, and that includes alleviating costs and expenses with the development of such units.
Speaking to reporters at today’s event, Wyden stood alongside people who designed and built the 13-building development.
Wyden said he’ll consider asking the Federal Reserve to take a 90-day pause on raising interest rates.
“A 90-day pause would give some relief to developers like my friend here,” said Wyden, gesturing to Gary Meili, of Meili Construction in Eugene. “But it would also give the Federal Reserve the chance to go back and look at the effects in the last few months, of raising interest rates.”
Wyden has also introduced legislation that would let governments use Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds to create long-term loans for affordable housing units that receive Low-Income Housing Tax Credits.
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