Affordable housing project eyed on 93 South

Whitefish is in the running for a major grant to back an affordable housing project on Highway 93 South.

Phase one of the project south of the Les Schwab tire store would include 36 units that will stay as affordable housing for at least the next 60 years.

The project hinges on investors from Portland, Oregon-based The Commonwealth Companies receiving funding from the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program. Created by the Tax Reform Act of 1986, the program gives state and local housing authorities tax credits for the acquisition, rehabilitation or new construction of rental housing targeted to lower-income households.

Commonwealth Companies currently has the parcel of land in Whitefish under contingency through January when the grant recipients are announced, said Whitefish Housing Authority director Lori Collins.

The one, two and three bedroom units will be tagged for households earning less than 60 percent of the area medium income.

“Which is pretty much every single worker in this town — school teachers, nurses, etc.,” Collins said.

The design for the project is in the conceptual phase until funding is secured. Collins said the property is zoned for the proposed density.

“We have a nice idea for the layout,” Collins said, noting that the entire parcel could hold up to 64 units.

Collins said the president of Commonwealth has a home in Whitefish and has eyed building an affordable project here for many years.

“He is always looking to break into this area,” she said. “But finding affordable land is very hard. We’re always talking, but every year either the prices have skyrocketed or the funding is not there.”

“Basically all the stars are aligning now,” she added. “The land was there at the right price.”

The Housing Authority will be a non-financial business partner in the project, with the investor buying the tax credits.

There are 22 applicants in contention for the funding, Collins said.

“We’ll know in January,” she said. “It’s a very competitive grant and we want it.”

Without the funding, the project won’t happen. The last time Whitefish received these tax credits was a decade ago.

Collins is seeking letters of support from a variety of community members to back the effort.

“This is workforce housing that we could fill in two seconds flat,” Collins said. “The minute its approved we’ll have applicants. And we’ll get good people that just need an affordable place to live.”

For more information, contact the Housing Authority at 862-4143.