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$17M Awarded to Revitalization Project in Florida
Published: September 27, 2007
By Kelly Sheehan, Online News Editor
Sarasota, Fla.—The Sarasota Housing Authority (SHA), the county of Sarasota and the city of Sarasota recently signed an inter-local funding agreement to allow nearly $17 million to be allocated for the revitalization of the Newtown Redevelopment Project (NRP). This money will be awarded to Michaels Development Co. (MDC), which is heading up the project.
NRP will be a mixed-income, mixed-use development. MDC, which was selected by the authority to develop NRP, will build the project in Sarasota on four sites: Janie Poe, Bertha Mitchell, Orange Avenue and the Courts. When completed, NRP will include more than 800 units of market-rate, public and affordable housing as well as an elderly facility, homeownership component and retail space. Construction is expected to start in spring 2008.
In addition to the $17 million, the Florida Housing Finance Corp. (FHFC) announced that the project will also receive $1.1 million in nine-percent Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC). These tax credits are expected to generate about $10.7 million in equity and will be used to finance Janie Poe, the first phase of the project that will include 86 one- to four-bedroom apartments as well as retail space.
“Although there already has been a tremendous amount of progress made behind the scenes, the tax credit award and city funding allows us to put the shovel to the ground and bring this development to fruition much sooner than anyone anticipated,” says Milton Pratt, senior vice president of MDC. “Now the community will be able to physically see the hard work that’s been performed to date to make this project a success.”
