New Search
T" <br /> f <br /> contributed $515,000 in federal HOME construction funds. Lane County provided approximately <br /> $500,000 in Road Funds to construct the roadway improvements to the project and hroughout the <br /> broader subdivision. The State of Oregon provided approximately $1,910,000 in fede allow-income <br /> housing tax credits (LIHTC) and $610,000 of Oregon Lender's Tax Credits ( LTC); these <br /> allocations respectively enabled the Oregon Equity Fund to inject equity into the proj ct and NOAH <br /> to offer a reduced interest rate for its permanent loan. The construction cost fo Walnut Park <br /> Duplexes is estimated to be approximately $1.7 million. <br /> The opening of Walnut Park as low-income housing represents a successful culminati n of a lengthy <br /> and sometimes fiustrating development process. The overall project first began in 989 when the <br /> City of Eugene, as a result of recommendations from the City Social Goals commit ee, purchased <br /> a 40 acre site to serve as location for a mixed income subdivision and development. he first phase <br /> of affordable housing slated within this overall subdivision was to have been a 38 nit rowhouse <br /> apartment complex along the northern edge of the property. HACSA had complete architectural <br /> plans and assembled a financial package when, as part of a final procedur review, an <br /> environmental survey uncovered a threatened species, the western pond turtle, livin and breeding <br /> in the Dianna's pond in the northeastern corner of the property. <br /> After substantial delay, the City significantly reduced the density for the entir subdivision, <br /> HACSA's entire project was re-designed to move it away from the pond and its turtle esting areas, <br /> a fence was constructed to protect the turtle from its new human neighbors, and a sel ct number of <br /> turtles were equipped with modern electronic transmitting equipment to establish mor precisely the <br /> range of their habitat. Based on principles derived from its previous extensive ork with the <br /> neighborhood association, the City implemented a new plan for the broader subdivisio and installed <br /> roads and utilities, all under severe time limit pressure posed by the "perishability" oft a federal tax <br /> credits which HACSA had received from the State for its original project. <br /> While important to the local community, the financing package for affordable housin can be very <br /> fragile and relies upon cooperation and hard work between developers, the lender ,the limited <br /> <br /> partners, and the community. Walnut Park is just one illustration of this unfortunate r ality. In this <br /> Page 2 of 3 <br /> <br />