At this time the McKnight rehab has 88 units out of 110 now completed, and a second funding of RDA HOME funds, now committed, will see the property virtually brand-new!
It is this opportunity for PRESERVATION of existing affordable housing that is so critical at this juncture. The Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program (LIHTC) is seeing many projects come of age, so to speak, reaching the end of their 15 years of commitment to the program. Over that span of time, new technologies and efficiency innovations have been introduced, rendering older projects either less viable, or in some cases, totally obsolete. Unless there is the opportunity to bring these apartments up to current Housing Division standards, rents decline, and ultimately, units of affordability are lost.
Developers can always build new projects, but at what cost? Think of the monies that have already been invested by the jurisdictions in the LIHTC program, the developer’s commitment to providing these kinds of units, residents that have to depart homes where they could age-in-space. And further, the ultimate decline of existing and vital neighborhoods! There is a lot to lose if rehabbing is lost!