New Deal Brings More Than 90 Affordable For-Sale Homes to Georgia and Kentucky

Tax Credit Allocation Brings Dozens of Affordable For-Sale Homes to Low-Income Residents in Georgia and Kentucky

Smith NMTC Associates, LLC announces the closing of its most recent New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) transaction to support the development of affordable for-sale homes in Columbus, Georgia, and Louisville, Kentucky. The Housing Partnership Network, a Community Development Entity, provided $13 million of its allocation of New Markets Tax Credits from its $50 million award in the 2019 application funding round. U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation served as the Investor. NeighborWorks Columbus, a Georgia nonprofit enterprise, plans to construct and rehabilitate 32 homes with an allocation of $7 million. The Housing Partnership, Inc., a Kentucky nonprofit real estate developer, will substantially renovate approximately 60 homes with a $6 million allocation. The majority of homes made available through these projects will be sold to individuals earning below 80 percent of area median income (AMI).

“The pandemic has magnified housing inequality in our country. Never has our mission to expand access to affordable homeownership and its benefits been so critical,” said Howard Smith, principal of Smith NMTC. “Both NeighborWorks Columbus and Housing Partnership, Inc. are leaders in expanding housing opportunity in their communities. These deals continue the impact that has been transformative for low-income individuals nationwide, uplifting families and neighborhoods through the stability of homeownership.”

For more than 20 years, NeighborWorks Columbus in Columbus, Georgia, has provided comprehensive housing services to low- and moderate-income residents in Georgia and Alabama. Since its launch, the organization has built 230 homes and created 1,952 homeowners. With this $7 million allocation, NeighborWorks Columbus will create nearly three dozen affordable for-sale homes in a neighborhood along the 4^th Avenue Corridor.  Though the poverty rates in the area are  as high as 41 percent, the location is desirable as it has easy access to transit, employment hubs, food sources, and health and vocational services.

The Housing Partnership, Inc., based in Louisville, Kentucky, creates and promotes access to affordable housing for the benefit of families and communities. HPI will leverage the $6 million NMTC allocation of this deal in the Beyond 9^th Initiative that aims to reduce blight and increase homeownership opportunity in the traditionally African American West End in Louisville. HPI will use the funds to renovate 60 homes located in high poverty neighborhoods and sell them to individuals earning below 80 percent of the area median income (AMI).