General Information About The Corporation
The Arlington Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC) was incorporated in 1991, organized by the City of Arlington and operates pursuant to Chapter 394, Local Government Code, as amended. The purpose of the AHFC is to provide a means to finance the cost of residential ownership and development that will provide decent, safe, and sanitary housing at affordable prices for residents in the City of Arlington, Texas.
What Can Housing Finance Corporations do?
A Housing Finance Corporation (HFC) is a corporation with the primary purpose of providing affordable housing, either directly or indirectly. The purpose of Housing Finance Corporations (HFC) is to provide a means to finance the cost of residential ownership and development that will provide decent, safe, and sanitary housing at affordable prices for residents of local governments. HFC’s are governed by a board of directors and are limited by only two things: whether the activity is related to affordable housing and their own creativity.
Common HFC activities include issuance of private activity bonds for the financing of multifamily housing, providing a Mortgage Credit Certificate program to assist first-time homebuyers purchase a home, issuing single family bonds to provide lower cost financing for homebuyers, and housing rehabilitation programs.
Who benefits for HFC activities?
HFC’s can establish income limits for their programs to meet the needs of their unique communities and the goals they are trying to achieve. Tax credit and bond financing programs have income limits that must be followed, but HFC’s can request deeper affordability levels that required to meet their community’s needs.
Families that live in tax credit developments work at the local coffee shop, day cares, schools, dry cleaning shops and other places that often aren’t high wage earner jobs. The HFC activities provides an opportunity for ALL Arlington residents to reside in safe, decent housing, without the need for families to double up and create congested neighborhoods.
Common HFC activities include issuance of private activity bonds for the financing of multifamily housing, providing a Mortgage Credit Certificate program to assist first-time homebuyers purchase.
What does the Arlington HFC do?
Mortgage Credit Certificate Programs: MCC programs provide an annual tax credit up to $2,000 per year during the time a first-time homebuyer owns their home, when purchased using an MCC program. This represents a dollar-for-dollar reduction in the homeowner’s federal tax liability, increases their disposable income and purchasing power. AHFC has sponsored numerous programs and the 2023 will be available to homebuyers in fall 2023. Information about how to participate will be posted here when available.
Example:
Example: $250,000 loan at 6% interest rate
- Annual interest is approximately $15,000
- An MCC tax credit rate of 20% of interest paid would equal $3,000
- The maximum annual credit allowed is $2,000
- The credit reduces the homebuyers’ federal income tax. It is a dollar-for-dollar reduction in the taxes due.
For a household earning $65,000 per year, the difference in federal taxes owed would be:
Without MCC $9,607
With MCC $9,607 - $2,000 = $7,607
* Additional $167 per month in spendable income!
Multifamily Bond Program – Financing Affordable Housing
The AHFC can issue private activity bonds to support the development of affordable housing for Arlington’s working families and for seniors. To date, the AHFC has issued bonds in support of the development or redevelopment of 1,082 units of affordable housing. Developments include Paddock at Park Row, Rosemont at Mayfield Villas, 6900 Matlock and Reserve at Mayfield. The first two were rehabs of existing housing, and the last two are currently under construction creating new affordable housing.
Affordable Housing Development – Developing / Rehab of Affordable Housing
A variety of affordable housing tools can be used to create rents that are below market and are affordable to families who are lower income. These are working families whose incomes are insufficient in today’s housing market or who are elderly or disabled – people we rely on every day at restaurants, in our schools and day cares, and shopping centers.
Tax credits and tax-exempt bond proceeds are commonly used for the development of affordable housing. The AHFC can also partner with developers by taking a very small ownership interest in a development, generally less than 1%. AHFC’s participation creates an ad valorem tax exemption to further the goal of creating affordable housing. The savings in property taxes, along with the lower cost of debt and the tax credit equity allow the property to charge rents that are affordable to lower income families. In exchange, the AHFC shares in the cash flow, developer fee and in most cases, receives a payment in lieu of taxes that can be used toward the city services supporting the development or other affordable housing initiatives. The AHFC has participated in three developments, creating, or retaining 866 units of affordable housing. The following is illustrative of 14-year projections for a recent development:
|
Benefits
|
Amount
|
Costs
|
Amount
|
|
Rent savings for lower income families
|
$47M
|
City of Arlington ad valorum tax exemption
|
$2.8M
|
|
Revenue to the AHFC (developer fee, payment in lieu
of taxes, cashflow, lease payments)
|
$4.7M
|
Other taxing entities tax exemption
|
$8.8M
|
|
TOTAL BENEFIT
|
$51.7M
|
TOTAL COST
|
$11.6M
|
AHFC’s Development Partnerships
The Elliott Senior Apartments
The Arlington Housing Finance Corporation partnered with the NRP Group to develop the new Elliott Senior Apartments, a 74-unit complex for seniors 55 and older. It was financed in part with 9% tax credits and is in south Arlington. It features a bocce ball court, controlled access, detached garages, and a community garden.
The complex is located at 7851 S. Collins St., Arlington TX 76002. They have 1- and 2-bedroom units with an open floorplan concept with living space ranging from 662 – 965 square feet. Eighty-seven percent of the inventory are affordable units available for low-income residents. Programming for seniors includes games, community events and educational topics.
Click here to view their website or call 817-849-6851 to check on availability.
The Paddock at Park Row
The Arlington Housing Finance Corporation partnered with Lincoln Avenue Capital, LLC, to substantially renovate the property formerly known as Spanish Park Apartments, a 350-unit complex located in central Arlington. The $20M renovation included interiors, new windows, energy efficient lighting and plumbing, landscape, and the outside of the building to include stairs, railings, and signage. Acquisition and rehab were funded by 4% tax credits, the issuance of private activity bonds and traditional debt.
The complex is located at 420 West Park Row, Arlington TX 76010 and has studio, 1, 2 and 3 bedroom units with living space ranging from 335 – 1,180 square feet. All are affordable units available for low-income residents. A formerly problematic apartment complex from a Code Enforcement, Fire and Police perspective, the Paddock at Park Row is professionally managed by Asset Living, and a variety of programs and services are offered at the property including numerous children and adult programs through Mission Arlington who recently took ownership of an adjacent property to expand the services being offered to the residents of the Paddock at Park Row.
The Paddock is an older property and property management have identified numerous infrastructure problems that need to be addressed such as underground water lines. The developer, Lincoln Avenue Capital is addressing these problems systematically through a multi-year capital improvement plan and accommodating the residents during the process.
Click here to view their website or call 817-861-2097 to check on availability.
Rosemont at Mayfield Villas
Through a partnership with Dominium Development, the AHFC supported the rehab of a 280-unit affordable housing development. Financing included 4% tax credits, AHFC’s issuance of tax-exempt bonds, and a bank loan. Rehab is currently underway and includes improvements to common areas as well as unit upgrades. The rehab should be complete by December 2023. Residents are not being displaced during the rehab. Dominium uses Portfolio Resident Services for programming and activities for tenants.
This development was a previous tax credit development and the AHFC’s involvement maintains the affordability at the development. The previous partner was a nonprofit, so this development was property tax exempt before the AHFC became the general partner and will remain exempt from ad valorem taxes. The tax exemption allows the rents to be affordable to lower income families. The cost benefit ratio over the next 15 years is 1.34. This doesn't factor in the rent savings to lower income families.
Click here to view their website or call 833-630-0232 to check on availability.
Matlock Flats – Under Construction
The AHFC is not a partner in this development and has no ownership interest. Dominium Development is the developer of the 216 unit workforce housing known as Matlock Flats. Matlock Flats is restricted to tenants whose income does not exceed 60% of area median income. Resident programming and activities are provided by Portfolio Resident Services. Matlock Flats broke ground early 2023 and construction will be approximately 24 months.
The AHFC issued private activity bonds to provide low-cost financing. As bond issuer and general contractor, the AHFC earns bond issuance fees and administrative fees annually while the bonds are outstanding. In this case, the future revenue stream of administrative and general contractor fees totaling $838K were paid at closing. These funds are available for additional affordable housing related purposes. In addition to this revenue, Matlock Flats will provide rent savings for lower income families for at least 30 years.
Reserve at Mayfield – Under Construction
The AHFC partnered with MVAH Development to develop 236 units of affordable housing for seniors. The development is currently under construction with the first units expected to be ready for occupancy in the fall of 2023. Pre-leasing will start early fall 2023 and information about how to apply will be posted when available. This development uses 4% tax credits, tax-exempt bonds and bank financing for acquisition and development.
The AHFC is the general partner and general contractor on this development. AHFC’s role as general partner provides an ad valorem tax exemption which in part allows for the rents to be set at levels affordable to lower income families. The cost benefit ratio (not including rent savings) is 1.05.
Housing Rehabilitation of Owner-Occupied Homes
The Housing Department has managed a Housing Rehab program for many, many years. The program has several components: Full Rehab, Emergency Rehab and Architectural Barrier Removal. The City of Arlington regularly allocates $1.2M of funding received from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for Housing Rehab. For the 2023-2024 year, completing priorities resulted in only $600K being allocated to Housing Rehab.
The Board of Directors of the AHFC agreed to use $600K of AHFC funds to complement the HUD dollars so the program would remain fully funded. Because the AHFC funds are not federal, staff are able to provide certain flexibilities with the AHFC funded program. Applications for Housing Rehab can be found on the Housing Rehab website.
Independent Registered Municipal Advisor
The AHFC is represented by Hilltop Securities Inc to provide advice on recommendations and other advise from financial services firms concerning the issuance of municipal securities, the investment of bond proceeds and escrow investments and other municipal financial products.
Eligible Activities of a Housing Finance Corporation
Eligible activities include, but are not limited to:
Issuance of single family mortgage revenue bonds for the purpose of providing low and moderate income home buyers with mortgage money and/or down payment and closing costs assistance money.
Direct loans to home buyers to provide down payment and closing costs assistance.
Mortgage credit certificate programs to provide a subsidy to low and moderate income first time home buyers.
The issuance of multifamily housing finance revenue bonds for both "for profit" and "not-for-profit" entities to provide for low and moderate income multifamily housing to be built or acquired and rehabilitated within the sponsoring political subdivision.
The application for and receipt of grants from the State and other sources for down payment and closing costs assistance money for first time home buyers.
The provision of zero interest loans to senior citizens for purposes of rehabilitating their existing homesteads.
Assistance to builders to purchase and rehabilitate substandard single family housing.
The AHFC intends to implement a Mortgage Credit Certificate Program to assist eligible low and moderate income homebuyers' purchase a residence.