The Dallas City Council approved several items Wednesday pertaining to housing developments in Dallas.
The council authorized the Dallas Housing Finance Corporation (DHFC) to spend $12.2 million of taxpayer money on a multi-family apartment complex development at 13675 Noel Rd.
The City-created DHFC provides tax-exempt mortgage revenue bonds along with other types of support for the acquisition and construction of multi-family housing projects.
The item was passed in a 14-1 vote, with the only dissenting vote coming from Councilmember Cara Mendelsohn.
The DHFC was also authorized to acquire and develop Bluffview Highline — a mixed-income multi-family development to be located at 3802 West Northwest Hwy. The DHFC will sign a 75-year lease agreement with real estate developer Urban Genesis to develop the project, which will cause the City to forego an estimated $582,000 in tax money.
“The City of Dallas hereby confirms that its Governing Body has voted specifically to authorize the development to move forward,” the resolution read.
The City also passed two separate resolutions supporting the applications of housing developers to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) for 9% low-income housing tax credits (HTC) from the state.
One of these supporting resolutions acknowledged that Sycamore Strategies had “proposed the development of a mixed-income, multi-family complex to be known as Cabana Design District Apartment Homes,” which can be seen on this map.
The City noted that Sycamore Strategies had informed Dallas of its application with TDHCA for the 9% tax credit and therefore wanted to indicate that “it supports the proposed development…, the development’s application for 9% HTC, and any allocation by the TDHCA of 9% HTC for the proposed development.”
Attached to this resolution of support is a $500.00 line of credit for the developer contingent on its successful application and receipt of the 9% housing tax credit. This nominal line of credit technically qualifies the development as a public-private partnership, which improves its rating in the competitive process to receive the housing tax credits.
The TDHCA’s Qualified Allocation Plan explains that a “commitment of development funding by local political subdivision” will allow a developer’s application for the 9% HTC to earn an additional scoring point.
It notes, “Documentation must include a letter from an official of the municipality, county, or other instrumentality with jurisdiction over the proposed Development stating they will provide a loan, grant, reduced fees or contribution of other value that equals $500 or more for Applications located in Urban subregions.”
The other supporting resolution was substantially similar and indicated the City’s approval for the proposed development of Shiloh Commons by JES Dev Co. Inc.
Shiloh Commons would be a “low to moderate income multi-family complex” situated at “10806 and 10810 Shiloh Road, Dallas, Texas 75228,” according to the resolution adopted by the city council. Like the agreement with Sycamore Strategies, if JES Dev successfully received the 9% HTC from the state, the City of Dallas would provide the developer with a $500.00 line of credit.
