AHFC Funding Offers a Green Light for Town Center Project
Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC) announced last month that it will provide a Low Income Housing Tax Credit Award of $674,140 to Cook Inlet Housing Authority for the $25 million development of a unique housing community at what is commonly known as Creekside Town Center, near the corner of Muldoon and DeBarr roads in Anchorage. Sales of the credit from this award plus an award in excess of $380,000 that AHFC granted CIHA for the project in 2006, will ultimately provide more than $10 million in development financing for the project.
In addition to the federal tax credit proceeds CIHA will leverage nearly $9 million in additional loans and grants from AHFC and more than $5 million in CIHA's own funds. Municipal support and a traditional loan will be the final ingredients that make the project viable. Construction is slated to begin on the project this spring and will take between 12 and 14 months to complete.
The new development, Grass Creek Village at Creekside, will be the first actual development to take place within the Creekside Town Center boundaries as established by the Municipality of Anchorage 20/20 plan. In fact, it will be the first development within any of the town center designated areas in Anchorage to be developed as part of a town center concept master plan.
The development will offer approximately 80 rent-to-own townhomes in both tri-plex and four-plex residential buildings on an eight acre parcel. The development will also include a site clubhouse which will provide a place for CIHA sponsored resident functions such as financial literacy and homebuyer readiness workshops, holiday parties and after-school events. The residential community is expected to be bordered at its east end by commercial development on Muldoon Road.
"In many areas of the country, homeownership is increasingly becoming out of reach," said CIHA President/CEO Carol Gore. "We're fortunate in Alaska to have strong advocates for affordable housing. I'm so thankful for partners like Dan Fauske (AHFC President/CEO) and his staff who are making it possible for us to provide local families with another opportunity to live in high quality rental homes with the prospect of future homeownership." Gore notes that the cost of living in Anchorage is about seven percent higher than the national average.
The townhomes will vary greatly in size offering from one to four bedrooms with private garages for each unit. Sixty percent of the units will be available to families earning less than 60 percent of the area median income (AMI) based on family size - or a maximum of about $43,000 for a family of three. A number of the homes will be available to individuals and families regardless of income. Four of the homes will be fully accessible for people with disabilities.
"We're excited Grass Creek Village will allow us to provide quality housing and homeownership opportunities for families of all income levels. This residential mixed-income concept combined with retail and other commercial development close at hand will make for a very dynamic and vibrant neighborhood," said Gore.
"A town center concept should help create a sense of community for the people who live nearby. We envision an environment that draws people out of their homes and into the nearby restaurants, coffee shops and small retail shops," Gore continued. "The concept is meant to provide an opportunity for people to live and work in a central location, ultimately cultivating in them a real sense of investment in their neighborhood. We hope to encourage stability for our families, our schools and our community."
Grass Creek Village is named in honor of the Dena'ina people, who for hundreds of years established fishing camps along the stream that is now known as Chester Creek. To the Dena'ina, the body of water was known as Chanshtnu (pronounced Chon- shnoo) which means grass creek.