The list of projects in Dallas that could, maybe, get a chunk of the paltry $7.6-million in Low Income Housing Tax Credits allotted for the Dallas-Denton-Collin-Grayson-Tarrant County region was whittled down to four a while back, and city staff told the City Council's Housing Committee today how they would distribute the cash were it up to them, which it's not.
Number one on the list is First Presbyterian and Family Gateway's Evergreen Residences, a collection of 130 family housing units proposed for 1701 Canton St. that would require the most from the city, with $4.6 million coming from federal grants.
The next projects are, in order of staff preference, John Greenan's Cadillac Apartments proposed for Cadiz and South Ervay, which would be for homeless adults; Matthews Southwest's 1400 Belleview, which would provide 164 units for families; and Hatcher Square, which would provide 136 units for families at Scyene and Hatcher.
To be in the running for the tax credits developers need a go-ahead from the City Council, but they are ultimately awarded by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs.
And that agency doesn't rank Evergreen as highly as do city staff. Nineteenth, in fact, out of 21 projects in the region. Belleview is fifth, Cadillac sixth, and Hatcher Square 12th. Those rankings are based on a complex formula that forms more or less the entire basis for TDHCA's funding decision when its board meets in July.
That means that if a project is 19th out of 21, it's almost certainly going to be turned away, said TDHCA spokesman Gordon Anderson.
Of course, the City Council can force developers out of the running if they don't pass a resolution in their favor. I'm not sure what the housing committee recommended today. I wasn't there but have emailed chairwoman Carolyn Davis to see. The full council will vote on whom to support in July.
