Committee extends deadlines for two affordable-housing loans, amends administering department

A Cuyahoga County committee voted to amend Resolution 2021-0268 and extend loan sunset dates to Dec. 31, 2024 for two affordable-housing projects, the committee chair said during the meeting.

Sarah Parks Jackson, director of the Department of Housing and Community Development, told the committee she requested the amendment to change the department name in the resolution and to extend the sunset date so two projects could close in compliance with the resolution’s timing. "The Arch at Saint Michael's is moving forward. We're preparing paperwork, but because of the date of the resolution and the sunset, we needed to extend it so that when we close, we are in compliance," Jackson said.

Jackson said the Warner Swayze project still faces a financing gap and that federal funds tied to the project require decisions before the end of the year. "If the tax credits didn't get extended, then the deal's done. It can't move forward," she said, and added the county would consider withdrawing funds if the project failed to meet closing requirements.

Committee members moved and seconded an extension for the two projects; the chair then called for the vote and recorded the motion as approved. Committee members present voiced their support for maintaining the projects' momentum and cited Warner Swayze's local historical significance during discussion.

Jackson reported that three other projects listed in the original 2021 resolution — the Jennings Center in Maple Heights and the Benjamin Rose Margaret Wagner apartments among them — have closed. Together with the Arch at Saint Michael's and the two projects for which the committee extended deadlines, the department said the set of projects will add 169 affordable rental units in Cuyahoga County.

The committee’s action amends Resolution 2021-0268 (originally dated Jan. 11, 2022) and extends the sunset provision in section 3 to Dec. 31, 2024 for the two projects the department identified. The committee recorded the extension as approved; staff said they will proceed with the paperwork needed to meet closing requirements.

Details recorded in the meeting indicate the Warner Swayze project remains contingent on the project's ability to secure or extend low-income housing tax credits and timely use of federal funds. Jackson told the committee she had set a Dec. 31, 2024 deadline for the developer to resolve those financing items.

No formal amendments to loan amounts or other financial terms were reported during the committee discussion. The committee’s approval was limited to the resolution language change (substituting the director title) and the sunset-extension request for the two named projects.

The committee did not take further action on projects that have already closed; staff said they will continue to monitor the Warner Swayze timeline and reallocate funds if the project cannot meet required conditions by the new sunset date.