Item Coversheet

Housing and Redevelopment Authority Board Action Request
19-HCHRA-0007

Item Description:
Preliminary approval to issue one or more tax-exempt multifamily housing revenue bonds for an affordable housing project at 1125 Fremont Ave N, and 1121 and 1227 12th Ave N, Mpls; authorization to apply for allocation of issuance authority

GRANTING PRELIMINARY APPROVAL TO THE ISSUANCE OF MULTIFAMILY HOUSING REVENUE BONDS (PARKVIEW APARTMENTS PROJECT); AUTHORIZING THE SUBMISSION OF AN APPLICATION FOR AN ALLOCATION OF BONDING AUTHORITY UNDER MINNESOTA STATUTES, CHAPTER 474A; AUTHORIZING THE PREPARATION OF A HOUSING PROGRAM PURSUANT TO MINNESOTA STATUTES, CHAPTER 462C; AND CALLING FOR A PUBLIC HEARING AND AUTHORIZING PUBLICATION OF A NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

 

WHEREAS, the Hennepin County Housing and Redevelopment Authority (the “Issuer” or “HCHRA”) is a housing and redevelopment authority and a public body corporate and politic duly organized and existing under the Constitution and laws of the State of Minnesota; and

 

WHEREAS, pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 462C, as amended (the “Housing Act”), the Issuer is authorized to carry out the public purposes described in the Housing Act by issuing revenue bonds or other obligations to finance or refinance multifamily housing developments, and as a condition to the issuance of such revenue bonds, adopt a housing program providing the information required by Section 462C.03, subdivision 1a of the Housing Act; and

 

WHEREAS, in the issuance of revenue bonds to finance multifamily housing developments, the Issuer may exercise within its corporate limits any of the powers the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency may exercise under Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 462A, as amended, without limitation under the provisions of Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 475, as amended; and

 

WHEREAS, Parkview Apartment Associates, LP, a Delaware limited partnership (the “Borrower”), submitted an application to the Issuer requesting the issuance of one or more series of multifamily housing revenue bonds or other obligations (the “Bonds”), in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $28,800,000, under the provisions of the Housing Act to assist in the financing of the acquisition, construction, and equipping of an approximately 223-unit multifamily rental housing development and facilities functionally related and subordinate thereto, located at 1125 Fremont Avenue North, and 1121 and 1227 12th Avenue North, Minneapolis, within Hennepin County (the “County”), for occupancy by persons and families of low and moderate income (the “Project”); and

 

WHEREAS, under Section 147(f) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), prior to the issuance of the Bonds a public hearing duly noticed must be held by the Board of Commissioners of the HCHRA (the “Board”). Under Section 462C.04, subdivision 2 of the Housing Act, a public hearing must be held on a housing program with respect to the Project (the “Housing Program”) after one publication of notice in a newspaper circulating generally in the County, at least 15 days before the hearing; and

 

WHEREAS, under Section 146 of the Code, the Bonds must receive an allocation of the bonding authority of the State of Minnesota, and an application for such an allocation must be made pursuant to the requirements of Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 474A, as amended (the “Allocation Act”); and

 

WHEREAS, the Board may grant preliminary approval to the issuance of the Bonds to finance the Project as further described in the Housing Program, and may authorize the submission of an application to the State of Minnesota Department of Management and Budget (“MMB”) for an allocation of bonding authority with respect to the Bonds and the Project in accordance with the requirements of Section 146 of the Code and the Allocation Act; and

Resolution:

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of the HCHRA approve the following:

 

  1. The Project and the issuance of the Bonds therefore, in one or more series of tax exempt or taxable bonds in an amount not to exceed $28,800,000 are hereby given preliminary approval by the Issuer, subject to mutual agreement of the Issuer, the Borrower, and the initial purchaser of the Bonds as to the details of the Bonds and provisions for their payment. In all events, it is understood, however, that the Bonds shall not constitute a charge, lien or encumbrance, legal or equitable, upon any property of the Issuer, except the Issuer’s interest in the loan agreement with the Borrower for the Project. The Bonds, when, as, and if issued, shall recite in substance that the Bonds, including interest thereon, are payable solely from the revenues received from the Project and property and security pledged to the payment thereof, and shall not constitute general or moral obligations of the Issuer or the County.
  2. The Bonds will be payable solely from the revenues of the Project and other money and security, if any, provided by the Borrower, and the Bonds will not constitute or give rise to a pecuniary liability of the Issuer or of the County or a charge against the general credit, full faith and credit, or taxing powers of the Issuer or the County.
  3. No holder of any Bonds shall ever have the right to compel any exercise of the taxing power of the Issuer or the County to pay the Bonds, or the interest thereon, nor to enforce payment against any property of the Issuer, except revenues of the Project to be paid to the Issuer and pledged to the Bonds.
  4. The Borrower may incur expenditures on the Project prior to the issuance of the Bonds therefore, and such expenditures may be reimbursed from proceeds of the Bonds, when, and if issued. This resolution shall constitute an “official intent” to reimburse such expenditures for purposes of Treasury Regulations, Section 1.150-2.
  5. The Executive Director and other officials, employees, and agents of the Issuer, with the assistance of the Borrower and Dorsey & Whitney LLP, in its capacity as bond counsel to the Issuer (“Bond Counsel”), are authorized and directed to prepare and submit an application to MMB for an allocation of bonding authority for the Project and the Bonds to be issued therefore in an amount not to exceed $28,800,000, pursuant to the Allocation Act.
  6. The Executive Director and other officers, employees and agents of the Issuer are hereby authorized to: (i) prepare the Housing Program in accordance with the requirements of the Housing Act; (ii) submit the Housing Program to the Metropolitan Council for its review and comments in accordance with Section 462C.04, subdivision 2 of the Housing Act; and (iii) participate in the preparation and review of necessary documents relating to the Project and Bonds issued in connection therewith.
  7. The Borrower will be responsible for paying any and all costs incurred by the Issuer in connection with the Bonds and the Project, including reasonable costs that the Issuer may incur for legal counsel and any reasonable fees the Issuer may charge, whether or not the Project is carried to completion, and whether or not the Bonds or operative instruments are executed.
  8. The adoption of this resolution does not constitute a guaranty or firm commitment that the Issuer will issue the Bonds as requested by the Borrower. The Issuer retains the right, in its sole discretion, to withdraw from participation and accordingly not to issue the Bonds, or issue the Bonds in an amount less than the amount referred to herein should the Issuer at any time prior to issuance thereof determine that it is in the best interest of the Issuer not to issue the Bonds, or to issue the Bonds in an amount less than the amount referred to herein, or should the parties to the transaction be unable to reach agreement as to the terms and conditions of any of the documents required for this transaction.
  9. A public hearing on the Housing Program relating to the Project and the issuance of the Bonds shall be held before the Board of the HCHRA on a date, and at a time and place, as is deemed appropriate by the Clerk of the Board. The Clerk of the Board shall publish notice of the public hearing, in substantially the form attached hereto as EXHIBIT A in Finance and Commerce, the official newspaper of the County. Bond Counsel is hereby directed to publish notice of the public hearing in the Star Tribune, a newspaper of general circulation in the County. The notice shall be published at least once, in each newspaper, at least 15 days prior to the date of the public hearing, but not more than 30 days prior to the date of the public hearing, and a copy of the Housing Program shall be submitted to the Metropolitan Council for review and comment on or before the date of publication of the notice.
Background:

History: DeSola Capital, on behalf of Parkview Apartment Associates, LP, has submitted an application for housing revenue bond financing to assist in the acquisition and rehabilitation of 223 affordable rental housing units at 1125 Fremont Avenue North, and 1121 and 1227 12th Avenue North, Minneapolis.

 

The project contains a mix of one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments. Two hundred twenty-two (222) of the units will be affordable to households at or below 50 percent of area median income (AMI), as determined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and one unit will be affordable to households at or below 60 percent of AMI. The project has an existing Section 8 contract for 222 of the 223 units. The developer has committed to retaining the Section 8 contract and extending the affordability period for an additional 30 years.

 

The project’s total development cost is expected to be approximately $45 million dollars. The developer is requesting Hennepin County Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HCHRA) preliminary approval to issue multifamily revenue bonds not to exceed $28,800,000.

 

The bonds would be special limited obligations of the HCHRA, payable solely from the revenues specifically pledged by the developer. In addition to the housing revenue bonds, proposed sources of funding include four percent Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and developer equity.

 

The project meets the guidelines for conduit financing, as established by Resolution 02-HCHRA-32, and will preserve 223 units of long-term affordable housing. The request is also consistent with previous HCHRA multifamily housing revenue bond actions for the A-Mill, Village Green, and Millworks Lofts apartment projects.

 

Current Request: This request is for preliminary approval to issue tax-exempt multifamily housing revenue bonds for an affordable housing project at 1125 Fremont Avenue North, and 1121 and 1227 12th Avenue North, Minneapolis and authorization to apply for allocation of issuance authority.

 

Impact/Outcomes: Issuance of multifamily housing revenue bonds will rehabilitate and preserve the affordability of 223 housing units, with 222 units serving households at or below 50 percent of area median income and one unit serving households at or below 60 percent of area median income.

Recommendation from County Administrator: Recommend Approval