The City of Covington will vote next week on selling multiple city-owned properties to develop two different affordable housing projects.
These projects include a 50-unit senior affordable housing development and a 60-unit workforce housing development.
The sale of the properties are contingent on developers getting low-income housing tax credits, meaning the deals won’t happen if the developers fail to obtain the credits. Yet, if the developments ever come to fruition, they will represent two significant developments in the city’s ongoing efforts to address the housing supply.
The senior development involves a cluster of vacant land in the Lewisburg neighborhood on Western Avenue. The developer is Spire Development out of Columbus, Ohio, which has already developed both affordable and senior housing in Northern Kentucky, such as the Three Springs Townhomes in Crescent Springs.
The development plan Spire submitted to the city calls for 30 one-bedroom units and 20 two-bedroom units. If Spire is able to get tax credits, it will pay $5,000 to the city to buy the parcels. The development plan shows Spire plans to spend about $13.67 million to develop the land, $10 million of which will be bankrolled by the tax credits. The units will be marketed to people making 80% or less of the area media income.
The other development will be headed up by partnership between Covington developer A.M. Titan and well-known local nonprofit The Brighton Center; the property itself would be owned by an LLC subsidiary called Patton Street, LLC. The development will focus on a single property located on 609 Patton Street in Austinburg, which is currently vacant. If the LLC gets tax credits, the city has agreed to sell the property to it for $1. The city tried to sell the land to a different developer last year.
A development plan submitted to the city calls for 12 one-bedroom units with rent ranges between $650 and $1,250 and 48 two-bedroom units with rent ranges between $800 and $1,500. The units will be marketed to people making between 30% and 80% of the area median income.
The company is seeking $10.5 million in tax credits and expects to spend roughly $23.3 million to develop the property, according to the development plan.
John Hammons, who manages the city’s federal funding programs, presented the proposal to the Covington Board of Commissioners on Tuesday.
Mayor Ron Washington asked, “is there any way that we can make sure that Covington residents are prioritized as the people that would move into the senior housing and the workforce housing?”
“I am not sure about that at this point, but I will get you that answer,” Hammons replied.
Washington also asked if the community would be involved as the developments progress.
“We will be engaging the community,” Hammons said.
“Is there anything that can enforce the timelines?” asked Commissioner Tim Downing. “Because certainly, when we do talk with the community, the disruption becomes a big part of that conversation, the disruption of the surrounding area.”
“We should have that as part of the development agreement,” Hammons said.
Both projects were placed on the consent agenda for next week’s meeting, meaning they will likely pass.
