Housing agency board approves tax agreements for affordable housing in Madison

• Ewing Heights will offer 180 affordable units and Birchstone Village will offer 228 affordable units.
• The Metro Development and Housing Agency's Payment in Lieu of Taxes program incentivizes the construction of affordable housing by accepting payments in exchange for tax abatement.

The Metro Development and Housing Agency board of commissioners voted to approve two new affordable housing developments in Madison for the agency's Payment in Lieu of Taxes program. The plans will help to fund nearly 400 income-restricted units in the area.

The applicants were Ewing Heights, at 334, 336, and 336A Ewing Drive, and Birchstone Village, at 616 North Dupont Ave.

The housing agency's taxes program incentivizes the construction and rehabilitation of affordable housing in the Metro area by accepting payments over a 10-year period in exchange for tax abatement.

The program is available for development projects that have applied for the federally sponsored low-income housing tax credit program through the Tennessee Housing Development Agency and cap out at $2.5 million in tax abatement per year. As of the 2021 tax year, there are 16 apartment complexes making payments in lieu of taxes payments for a total of more than 3,500 units.

According to the application, the Ewing Heights development will offer 170 multifamily apartments and 10 townhomes at varying degrees of income restriction, not to exceed 60% of the Area's Median Income on average. All of the units in both developments will be subject to income and rent restrictions, ensuring affordability.

"Without this (payment in lieu of taxes), affordable housing is not financially feasible to develop, period," Development Manager Joshua Haston said. "The city is doing a good job to create new incentive programs, and more is always needed to meet the demand of our growing population and keep things affordable."

The project is being executed by LDG Development, a real estate development firm with properties across the South. Two other Nashville properties built by LDG are also part of the Metro Development and Housing Agency's payment in lieu of taxes program: Paddock at Grandview and Buffalo Trail Apartments.

The Ewing Heights development will consist of:

• 85 two-bedroom units
• 85 three-bedroom units
• Six three-bedroom townhomes
• Four four-bedroom townhomes

The Birthstone Village development will consist of 228 units with an average income restriction not to exceed 60% of the Area Median Income.

The development will offer:

• 82 one-bedroom units
• 97 two-bedroom units
• 49 three-bedroom units

The Birchstone Village development is part of a plan by First Cumberland Properties to relocate residents from Inglewood's Berkshire Apartments and free up the property for a mixed-use redevelopment. According to the Birchstone Village website, residents will not be expected to move until the summer of 2023 and all moving expenses will be covered by the property manager.

First Cumberland Properties could not be reached for comment by the time of this publication.