November 15, 2018. Courier and Press.
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Two planned affordable housing developments in Evansville will receive state financial assistance.
Altogether, the two projects represent about $25 million in investment, according to city officials. They are slated for 2019 completion.
The announcement of tax credits and grants for the projects came from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority.
A closer look at the projects and the assistance they will receive:
Evansville Townhomes
The Evansville Housing Authority and Advantix Development Corp. is to get $1 million in Rental Housing Tax Credits and $500,000 from the IHCDA Development Fund.
Thirty townhomes are to be built near Governor and Canal streets, just south of the recently opened Silver Birch assisted living senior housing development.
The project also involves rehabilitating 30 housing units at scattered locations in the city.
Homes of Evansville II
Homes of Evansville II is the construction of 30 single family homes on vacant and abandoned lots, as well as one 30-unit apartment building. Twenty percent of the apartment units will serve people with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
The project by HOPE of Evansville received $1.2 million in Rental Housing Tax Credits and $500,000 from the IHCDA Development Fund.
Land for the project is in the Tepe Park Neighborhood, bordered by Washington, Governor, Monroe and Kentucky avenues. The new housing will be built on properties acquired by the Evansville Land Bank, where dilapidated homes once stood.
“It’s a good example of why land banking is important,” said Kelley Coures, director of the Evansville Department of Metropolitan Development.
Evansville needs thousands more units of affordable housing to meet the local need, according to Congregations Acting for Justice and Empowerment, a coalition of churches that has pressed city leaders to address the issue.
Evansville’s 2019 budget includes $500,000 for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, a resource that enables income-qualified individuals to rehab existing housing or to assist developers in building new units.
The city recently dedicated a new affordable housing building on East Iowa Street, in a former Catholic School building, and another project is planned for a section of the old YMCA building Downtown.
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