County Executive Elrich Announces Record Year of Finance through Montgomery County’s Housing Initiative Fund

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, July 24, 2019

County Invested $103.7 million in Fiscal Year 2019 to Expand Affordable Housing

Wednesday, County Executive Marc Elrich announced that Montgomery County’s Housing Initiative Fund (HIF) provided the highest level of financing in its 30-year history to preserve or create 22 multifamily properties generating a total of 3,254 apartment units, including 1,982 affordable housing units.

This year’s HIF funding was invested into 22 multifamily properties that were a combination of existing apartment buildings and new rental developments (12 existing and 10 new).  The County’s Department of Housing and Community Affairs (DHCA) attributes this year’s record level of financing to the following:

• The agency’s focusing on preserving market rate affordable housing, especially properties that come through the Right of First Refusal
• Several new construction projects closed – interest rates are good now
• Preservation of existing affordable housing – several Low-Income Housing Tax Credit properties became available through the Right of First Refusal

“I am proud of the investment that HIF was able to make this year that has led to nearly 2,000 units of affordable housing,” said County Executive Marc Elrich. “Our focus on preserving existing housing while adding new units produced 3,254 apartments and 61 percent of them are affordable.  I believe that the County should continue leveraging its assets to maximize our impact on affordable housing.  We must be creative and find solutions that generate more affordable housing and find the best opportunities to work with developers to address this very challenging problem.  Today is an example of how government can play a role in addressing the issue.”

The HIF receives revenue from a variety of sources including loan repayments and 2.5 percent of the County’s property tax revenue. The Department of Housing and Community Affairs (DHCA) amplifies the impact of HIF funds by combining them with other local, state, and federal resources to renovate distressed properties, preserve affordability of units, fund new construction and create housing for residents with special needs as well as mixed-income communities.

Overall, the County invested $103,712,761 to preserve or produce these housing units, 61% of which are affordable. Affordable units offer rents to people with incomes between 30 and 60 percent of Montgomery County’s Area Median Income (AMI) (e.g., for a family of four, 30 percent AMI amounts to $36,390 annually and 60 percent of AMI is $72,780 annually.)

DHCA collaborated with for-profit (Stratford Capital, The Orlo Fund, RST Development, and the Conifer Group) and nonprofit (Housing Opportunities Commission, Montgomery Housing Partnership, and Victory Housing) developers to produce this significant affordable housing expansion milestone.  Below is a chart with details.

Project Name	Preservation/ Production	Transaction Type	Funding Source(s)	Total Units	Affordable Units	County Cost
NCCF - 7906 Flower	Preservation	Acquisition/Rehab	HIF	8	8	2,425,000
Victory Haven - Damascus	Production	New Construction	Housing CIP	72	72	6,475,000
HOC Cider Mill	Preservation	ROFR	Housing CIP	864	260	15,000,000
Seabury Resources Springvale Terrace	Preservation	Refi/Rehab	Housing CIP	146	146	6,375,000
Woodvale	Production	ROFR	HIF	375	100	10,000,000
Waterford Towers	Production	ROFR	HIF	143	107	4,000,000
PLAN OF MD 10120 Little Bond #4	Production	Acquisition	HIF	1	1	117,000
Town Center Apt - HOC	Preservation	Rehab	HIF	112	112	288,000
MHP - Glenville Rd	Preservation	Refi/Rehab	HIF	31	16	4,250,000
Willow Manor - Cloppers	Preservation	ROFR	Housing CIP	102	81	7,345,532
Willow Manor at Colesville	Preservation	ROFR	Housing CIP	83	83	5,879,550
Willow Manor at Fair Hill Farm	Preservation	ROFR	Housing CIP	100	100	6,576,505
Hermitage Woods	Preservation	Rehab	Housing CIP	37	10	1,148,186
Stratford Capital - Momentum Shady Grove	Production	New Construction	Housing CIP	110	110	7,400,000
Willow Manor at Fairland (ECRSC Site)	Preservation	New Construction	Rent Asst	121	60	595,000
Artspace - 801 Sligo Avenue	Production	New Construction	HIF/HOME	79	72	4,237,988
HOC - Upton II	Production	New Construction	Housing CIP	150	112	5,000,000
Hampshire Towers	Preservation	Rehab	Rent Asst	216	204	3,000,000
Friends House (Sandy Spring)	Production	New Construction	HOME	80	72	1,350,000
Main Street	Production	New Construction	HIF	70	49	2,500,000
HOC Elizabeth House	Production	New Construction	HIF	267	120	7,000,000
Snowden Ridge	Preservation	Sec 8/Preservation	Housing CIP	87	87	2,750,000
FY 2019 Total				3,254	1,982	103,712,761

 

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Release ID: 19-257
Media Contact: Lorraine Driscoll 240-777-6507