Space Race Innovative Space Solutions for the Business Environment -2007
Space Race 40th Anniversary Issue
MV plans five housing efforts
Dayton Business Journal - by Tom Demeropolis DBJ Senior Reporter
Aided by tax credits, Miller-Valentine Group is embarking on five affordable housing projects, including a 34-unit facility in Huber Heights.
The tax credits, which total nearly $4.2 million annually, will help spur the development of 275 housing units in three states. Altogether, the five projects total nearly $45 million.
MV Residential Development, a division of Dayton-based Miller-Valentine, was awarded tax credits for two projects in Ohio, two projects in Indiana and a project in Iowa. These awards equal the total number of tax credits MV Residential Development was given last year and it still has five applications in other states pending.
"This is a big deal; there's no question," said Brian McGeady, director of multi-family development for MV Residential Development. "We've had a good year-to-date and we still have the opportunity to get another five (tax credits)."
The awards and projects include:
• $1 million for a 50-unit senior living cottage-style development in Iowa;
• $943,000 for a 51-unit senior living development, Sylvania Senior Residence in Sylvania, which will include a three-story building and cottages;
• $850,000 for a 83-unit development, Deer Run Apartments, in Lawrenceburg, Ind., which is a redevelopment of MV Residential's first tax credit housing project;
• $800,000 for a 45-unit senior living development in Lawrence, Ind.; and
• $600,000 for a 34-unit development in the Carriage Trails development in Huber Heights.
To build affordable housing projects, developers such as Miller-Valentine sell tax credits to investors. The investor that purchases housing credits can subtract the credit on a dollar-for-dollar basis from its federal income tax.
The awards are important in helping Miller-Valentine finance high-quality affordable housing projects, McGeady said.
"We're providing working-class families with an affordable, quality place to live," he said.
Kevin Clark, housing credit allocation manager with the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, said without these tax credits, a number of projects would never be started.
"These tax credits are the driving force behind developing housing for lower income folks who need a quality place to live," Clark said.
Competition to receive one of the awards this year was tough. There were 80 applicants and 27 projects received funding.
Of MV Residential Development's five awards for this year, one project is scheduled to start construction before the end of the year, the project in Lawrence, Ind. The other four projects are expected to break ground in the second quarter of next year.
The projects will spur between 50 and 100 construction jobs per project, as well as long-term property management positions.
Last year, MV Residential Development received additional funding for its tax credit housing projects because of the stimulus package. But McGeady said this year's awards were not stimulus-based.
"This is a growing segment of our business," McGeady said. "We continue to expend resources in it."
Locally, MV Residential is partnering with St. Mary Development Corp. on the Carriage Trails project. This $6.2 million affordable housing development will be located in Miami County as part of the 625-acre housing development, Carriage Trails, in Huber Heights.
E-mail tdemeropolis@bizjournals.com. Call (937) 528-4427.
