Commissioners approve $37 million tax-exempt bonds for Wilkes Villa housing conversion

Lorain County commissioners voted unanimously Sept. 23 to approve a request that allows the Lorain County Metropolitan Housing Authority to secure up to $37,000,000 in tax-exempt revenue bonds to support the acquisition and rehabilitation of a 174-unit Wilkes Villa family housing project.

The item was presented by representatives of the housing authority, who said the project will convert public housing to a multifamily model using federal 4% low-income housing tax credits, HUD financing and private equity. Connie, identified in the meeting as the housing authority's chief financial and development officer, said total development costs are close to $69,000,000, with hard construction costs estimated at about $25,000,000. She said the authority expects simultaneous closing of financing in November and an approximately 18-month construction period, with a target completion around August 2027.

The housing authority said the financing structure requires tax-exempt bonds to secure roughly 50% of project costs as part of the 4% low-income housing tax credit structure. The authority also described the planned ownership structure: the equity investor will be a limited partner; the housing authority's nonprofit development arm and a private developer will serve as co-general partners for the 15-year compliance period, and the housing authority will continue to operate the property as property manager after conversion.

Commissioners asked about commitments to use local labor and materials. Housing authority staff and bond counsel explained federal funding and tax-credit rules limit the county's ability to mandate local purchasing; they said the contractor committed in discussions to pursue local labor where feasible, but no contractual requirement to use exclusively local suppliers was included because federal funds prohibit preferential local restrictions.

Bond counsel clarified that the county is not issuing or guaranteeing the bonds; the county's approval is required by federal tax code for private activity bond allocation and does not make the county liable for project debt. Commissioners were told all issuance costs will be treated as project costs and that the bonds are not county general-fund indebtedness.

The motion to approve the requested tax-exempt bond authorization passed unanimously (3-0).