DuPage HOME advisory group backs conditional commitments for two affordable housing projects totaling $4.15 million

The DuPage County HOME Advisory Group voted unanimously to recommend conditional commitments of HOME (Home Investment Partnerships Program) funds for two new affordable rental projects — $2,400,336 for a 71-unit senior and disability project in Naperville and $1,750,000 for a 42-unit family and disability project in Glen Ellyn.

The recommendations are advisory to the DuPage County Board and are conditional: staff said final risk analyses and legal documents must be completed before the County Board ties county funds to either development.

Mary, a county staff member presenting the two items, described the advisory group's multi-step HOME approval process and why the group was asked to move now. She said the two projects have received low-income housing tax credits and are aiming to close in August. Because the tax-credit financing timeline requires certainty about other funding sources, the advisory group was asked to advance conditional commitments so staff can circulate draft legal documents and help the projects meet closing schedules.

"The conditional commitment...doesn't guarantee the funding. It doesn't lock up the funding," Mary said, adding that the county will complete a risk analysis before taking either project to the County Board for final approval. Mary also told the group that preliminary set-asides are used to show tax-credit reviewers that county dollars are earmarked if projects win tax-credit awards.

Members asked no substantive questions during the presentations and moved both recommendations to a roll-call vote. The first recommendation — a conditional commitment of $2,400,336 to Gorman and Company, LLC for 71 new affordable rental units in Naperville targeting seniors and persons with disabilities — was moved and seconded and carried unanimously. The second recommendation — a conditional commitment of $1,750,000 to Full Circle Communities, Inc., Taft and Nexmoore Development for 42 new affordable rental units in Glen Ellyn for families and persons with disabilities — was also moved, seconded and approved unanimously.

Meeting materials noted the county uses a preliminary set-aside step for projects applying for low-income housing tax credits so developers can include county support in their tax-credit applications; staff emphasized that projects that do not win tax credits will free up those preliminarily set-aside funds. Mary said roughly "maybe 30" percent of tax-credit applications win awards, characterizing that number as an estimate based on past cycles.

Next steps: staff will finish risk analyses, finalize draft legal documents with developers and other funding partners, and present the conditional commitments to the DuPage County Board later in August for final authorization and to release county funds, if all conditions are met.