Last month the Oregon Housing and Community Services Department didn’t select the low-income senior housing project for much-needed tax credits that make up 45 percent of its financing.

“We are looking into it, but not going to be reversing or changing our decision,” said Oregon Housing and Community Services Department director Victor Merced. “That would mean taking money from another community and we can’t do that. But I am working on a Plan A and a Plan B to get this project funded.”

Now, Merced said he has directed his staff to find the $6.7 million needed to get the $16 million project started this summer. On June 11, Oregon Housing approved partial funding of approximately $26 million for housing projects across the state.

Merced would not give details of how he will come up with the money, but did say it was “promising.” He also said he hopes to have his “Plan A” together in the next few weeks.

“There is a 60-40 chance we can get this done,” he said. “I’m not going to be a weasel and say 50-50. We are going to push right now, to get this started as quickly as possible. I am waiting for information and analysis.”

Merced said it would be “reasonable” to get the project started by September.

“I couldn’t see why we couldn’t get this project started,” he said.

“Plan B,” said Merced, is to assist Northwest Housing Alternatives on the application so it stands a better chance when tax credits are handed out again in February. However, that would delay the start of the project for a year, leaving it unavailable to residents for at least two years.

Wilsonville city manager Arlene Loble said she was happy to hear the news, since the building department issued the building permits for the project this week.

Martha McLennan, executive director of Northwest Housing Alternatives, the organization that assembled the project’s funding, said she has looked at dozens of scenarios to get the project constructed this year. All require some “flexibility from Oregon Housing,” she said.

“I don’t believe any of the projects they did select for tax credits this round are ready to construct, our project is,” McLennan said. “I know the governor has been putting pressure on state directors to fund projects that can be built this summer. This project will create 35 construction jobs for 14 months starting in September.”

Loble agreed.

“Nothing is more shovel-ready than this project,” Loble said. “We are issuing building permits this week and all the other financing is in place. I think that’s part of the problem, the people at state housing don’t think we are really this ready to go, and we are.”

Merced said he is moving forward with finding alternative funding for the project, in part, because of the “direction from the governor to build projects that are ready this summer to help the economy.”

Local seniors waiting

Barbara Ricker watched as the construction equipment started digging into the property next to the Boeckman Creek Condominiums and got excited. City crews were moving a sewer line that was prep work for the building of the new apartment complex.

Ricker, one of the many former-residents of the Thunderbird Mobile Club, has been financially holding on by her fingernails, trying to stay in Wilsonville, while at the same time waiting for the new apartments to be completed.

Then, the work stopped.

“I was getting really excited, watching them work,” Ricker said as she limped across the parking lot. “It was heartbreaking, the news came out the project didn’t get the tax credits and suddenly work next door stopped.”

Michael Bowers, community development director, said the sewer project was completed, even though funding for the apartments is up in the air. He said that no matter what goes on that property, the sewer line had to be moved.

Ricker said she’ll move in the next 30 days to an affordable housing project in Wilsonville, simply because she needs to save money. She current rents un-subsidized housing.

The Creekside Woods Apartments is an 84-unit apartment complex that will connect to the Wilsonville Community Center and is a partnership between the city of Wilsonville and Northwest Housing Alternatives. The city is leasing land purchased with urban renewal dollars to NHA, who has agreed to use the property for low-income seniors. The city also has committed to approximately $1 million worth of amenities for the project.

“Our goal all along was to have a project that helped the people who were displaced from Thunderbird,” Mayor Tim Knapp said last week. “We are doing everything we can to get this project funded this year.”

Jean Campagna, another former Thunderbird resident, appreciated the city’s role in getting the project built.

“It’s needed,” she said. “We live at Town Center Apartments on Parkway, rent is reasonable here and they are nice, but it’s more than someone living on Social Security could afford. I hope they can get this funded. All the people from Thunderbird are starting to get pretty scattered.”

A waiting game

City, county and Northwest Housing Alternatives officials met with Rick Crager, deputy director of the OHCS, and others two weeks ago to find out what could be done about funding the project.

“We looked at gap funding, bridge financing, phasing, we looked at a whole bunch of alternatives,” said McLennan. “We looked at a dozen ways to put (it) together. The only ones viable require Oregon Housing to step outside of its normal processes.”