City officials announce first affordable housing project

Mayor Aftab Pureval, the Department of Community and Economic Development, Councilmember Reggie Harris and community partners are announcing the creation of a brand-new Affordable Housing Project: the very first to come from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and specifically targeted toward serving the city’s most vulnerable residents. The post City officials announce first affordable housing project appeared first on The Cincinnati Herald.

City officials announce first affordable housing project

Affordable Housing Trust Fund

Helena Battipaglia

City of Cincinnati

Mayor Aftab Pureval, the Department of Community and Economic Development, Councilmember Reggie Harris and community partners are announcing the creation of a brand-new Affordable Housing Project: the very first to come from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and specifically targeted toward serving the city’s most vulnerable residents. 

Slater Hall is a permanent supportive housing project that will be located at 898 W. Court Street in the West End. The project will be a new construction building on a currently vacant parcel. It will include 62 efficiency units of housing targeted towards individuals with mental illness. All 62 units will have an operating/rental subsidy so that no tenant will pay more than 30% of income in rent.

“This project is the product of a strong vision from Tender Mercies, Over-the-Rhine Community Housing, CDF and our city’s commitment to improving affordable housing access for all Cincinnatians,” Pureval said. “In the trust fund, we’ve established a sustainable revenue source to help build and maintain housing for those who need it most, and that work is delivering results. I couldn’t be prouder that the very first project will serve our most vulnerable residents, with all new units at or below 50% AMI (area median income).”

Councilmember Reggie Harris said, “Since this Mayor and Council took office earlier this year, we have prioritized and put in place strategic new systems to address the housing crisis. I am excited the partnership with the Cincinnati Development Fund has for the first time activated the city’s historic investment towards affordable housing.

“The Slater Hall project is a perfect example of how impactful this work is. It helps the population with the greatest need by providing quality housing for people in our community with the greatest need. Receiving funding from the Affordable Housing Trust ‘fund of fund’ will get the project over the finish line. This sends the message to affordable housing developers that if you come to Cincinnati with a good project, we will support you with the resources you need to get it done.”

Slater Hall is being developed in a collaboration between OTR Community Housing and Tender Mercies. This is the first project awarded from the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund, administered by the Cincinnati Development Fund (CDF.)

Joe Huber, CDF president and CEO, said, “CDF is very proud to provide both flexible early-stage loan capital and patient construction debt, through our management of the City’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund, to help make this project possible. OTRCH and Tender Mercies are both long-time clients of CDF whose missions we’ve long supported because we have so much respect for the challenging and important work that both organizations do in our community. This project is a great example of how our partnerships with the city of Cincinnati and other funders will allow CDF to fill gaps – quickly – in financing structures that meet critical community needs like providing stable housing and supportive services,”

Markiea Carter, Department of Community and Economic Development director, said, “Slater Hall is a pivotal first project in our deployment of Affordable Housing Trust Fund dollars through our partnership with CDF. Gap financing is crucial for permanent support housing projects such as Slater Hall as the clients they serve often have little to no income and not only do they have hurdles to housing, but they also often have hurdles to obtaining employment and just a stable quality of life. We are excited to see the activation of this vacant lot as we aim to meet our policy objectives to provide quality housing for all Cincinnatians including those that need support beyond just housing.”

Tender Mercies CEO Russell Winters, said, “The Slater Hall project is vital in helping ensure some of our community’s most vulnerable citizens have access to safe, dignified, affordable housing. This project will provide permanent supportive housing to 62 individuals who have experienced both homelessness and mental illness. While our region still has much work to do to address our dire shortage of affordable housing, this project shows that the Affordable Housing Trust Fund can be an instrumental funding source in helping permanent supportive housing projects cross the finish line.”

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