OHFA awarded $104M in stimulus funding - Dayton Business Journal:

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The Columbus-based agency, which provides tax creditx forhousing developments, mortgages and down-payment assistance to buyers, recently was awardee $104 million from the U.S. Departmeng of Housing and Urban Development and theTreasuruy Department. Of that $83 million came through stimuluds dollars funneledthrough HUD, whil the remaining $21 million came from the treasury. Kevi Clark, a credit allocation manager with the Ohio HousingFinancw Agency, said the $83 million share of funding from HUD’s Tax Credit Assistance Program will be given out as low-interest loans or grantds to developers who were awardec tax credits this year or in the past two In order for developers to clinch funding, they must already have found an investor to purchase an OHFA-issuexd tax credit at a discount, pumpinh capital into the projecg up front.
The grants or loans are intended as gap financinhg for lowerequity investments, Clark The smaller slice of OHFA funding from the Treasurt Department is part of more than $330 million the governmen t recently awarded to four states and Puertio Rico under the so-called Tax Credit Exchange program. That initiative allows OHFA to return to the government about $2.6 million of the $26 millionn in federally backed tax credits it’s planninbg to distribute this year in exchange for the $21 milliob in stimulus dollars.
The agency, Clar k said, plans to take that funding and award it as grants to affordable housing developersz who have clinched tax credits but have been unablse to secure an investor to buy the credifup front. Developers can return the tax creditsa in exchange for grants to replace that Amid a tight equity the grants open up a possibility for dozens of Ohio Clark said. “In the last two years, we’ve funded about 80 propertie swith credits, while aboug half of those have been able to find an investor to move he said.
The agency hasn’ty finalized the grant applicatiobn process for the stimulus dollars but plans to open the applicationj window innext month, Clark That information will be available on the agency’se Web site at ohiohome.org. More awards ahead • HUD said that OHFA’x $83 million award is a piecw of $2.25 billion it plans on giving out undet the taxcredit program. Other states seeking fundint have until June 3 to finalize applicationwith HUD. As a many similar announcements are expectexd in thecoming weeks.
The Treasury Department’s more than $330 million awarfd to OHFA and other states is partof $3 billiob that will be doled out under the Tax Creditr Exchange program. • More detailw on HUD’s stimulus awards are available byclickingf .