If you had half a million dollars to spend on affordable housing . . .

December 3, 2019 10:14 am

Would you give it to Salvation Army or Judge Doyle Square? Tonight, both projects are on the council agenda to get funding from the affordable housing fund. Which is a better deal?The answer is likely in the title alone:

#81 -Awarding up to $450,000 from the Affordable Housing Fund to support a rental housing development project, proposed by Stone House Development selected through a City Request for Proposals (RFP) process, that will construct approximately 20 units of rental housing in Madison, affordable to households with incomes at or below 60% of the county median income, and authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk to execute a loan agreement with the project developer

#82 – Awarding up to $500,000 from the Affordable Housing Fund to support an affordable housing development project, proposed by the Salvation Army of Dane County and selected through a City Request for Proposals (RFP) process, that will construct approximately 40 units of affordable rental housing in Madison, and authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk to execute a loan agreement with the developer of this project.

Which is a better deal to spend our very scarce affordable housing funds on? I’ll let you decide.

JUDGE DOYLE SQUARE/STONEHOUSE

Excepts from the staff report:

Stone House Development proposes to develop 161 units of rental housing. The proposal calls for 37 units to be income- and rent-restricted, 20 of which will be rented to households with incomes at or below 60% of the County Median Income (CMI) and 17 units to be rented to households with incomes at or below 80% of the CMI. As proposed, the below market rents in the development are made possible with financial assistance from the City’s Affordable Housing Fund.
Final authorization of City funding will be contingent upon securing investors and WHEDA financing as well as other contingencies as outlined in the authorizing resolution.

Here’s their application if you want more info.

SALVATION ARMY

Excerpts from the staff report:

If it proceeds, Mifflin Street Apartments would add 44 units of rental housing, of which 37 would be available to households with incomes at or below 60% of the CMI.
Final authorization of City funding will be contingent upon an allocation of LIHTCs from WHEDA and other contingencies as outlined in the authorizing resolution.

Here’s their application if you want more info.