Press Releases
Montgomery County Supports Affordable Housing to be Built Adjacent to St. Anne’s Episcopal Church in Damascus
For Immediate Release: Friday, April 29, 2022
The Montgomery County Department of Housing and Community Affairs (DHCA) participated in the financing to create affordable housing for seniors in Damascus on property adjacent to St. Anne’s Episcopal Church. The new apartment property will include 76 apartment units for residents ages 62 and over, all priced affordably. A groundbreaking ceremony was recently held for the project.
The affordable housing property will be located at 25100 Ridge Rd. in Damascus.
“So many of our older residents are on fixed incomes and we must continue to produce affordable, and deeply affordable, housing options for them,” said Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich. “In working with St. Anne’s, and with other faith-based efforts, we will help leverage available land to support housing for people who earn about $30,000 to $50,000 per year—that is, 30 to 50 percent of the area median. Similarly, we are offering County land parcels to be dedicated for housing that is affordable to people with lower incomes. With 20,000 households in Montgomery County earning less than $31,000 per year and paying more than half their income on rent, we must continue creating and preserving housing that is affordable to people at lower income levels.”
To support the construction, the County provided a $2.5 million HOME loan and a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) agreement. The loan and PILOT support affordability, with five units available at 30 percent of Area Median Income (AMI), five units at 50 percent of AMI, 63 units at 60 percent of AMI, and three units at 70 percent of AMI.
Other project financing includes $10 million in Freddie Mac Financing; $8.7 million in Low-Income Housing Tax Credit proceeds; $2.5 million in State Rental Housing Works; and $3.7 million in Mission First Loan/Deferred Developer Fee/Seller Financing. The total project development cost is $27.4 million.
The 76-unit apartment property is located next to a Ride On Route 90 stop. When complete, the building will include a community and sitting room, fitness room, library/meeting room and bike storage. It will be developed with Energy Star HVAC systems; Energy Star windows; energy efficient lighting and plumbing fixtures; and compliance with National Green Building Standards.
The developers for the apartment community are St. Anne’s Community Development LLC and Mission First Development Corporation.
“DHCA continues working with affordable housing developers to increase the supply of affordable housing and preserve our existing affordable housing,” said Aseem K. Nigam, director of the Department of Housing and Community Affairs. “This effort includes much-needed affordable housing for seniors and I am glad that we could help provide the financing to achieve that here.”
Montgomery County is applying every available policy tool and financial resource to help reduce housing cost burdens by increasing the number of affordable, rent-regulated housing units; providing rent supports; and preserving current affordable housing while protecting tenants from displacement.
For other recent news about affordable housing properties for seniors, see Montgomery County Supports Affordable Housing for Seniors at Silver Creek Senior Living Apartments and Montgomery County Supports Innovative Transformation of Office Complex Into ‘Sandy Spring Village’ Affordable Housing for Seniors.
For more information on Montgomery County’s housing program, see the DHCA Annual Report.
# # #
Media Contact: Lorraine Driscoll 240-461-5497
Categories: Housing