Mexico council backs Teal Lake Phase 2, supporting LIHTC application

The Mexico City Council on June 10 passed a resolution supporting the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) application for Teal Lake Phase 2 after a presentation from the developer’s consultant.

Pete Ramsel, a consultant with Holden Communities LLC, told the council the project team revised its application after feedback from the Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC). "We think we're at 140 points right now," Ramsel said, citing the project's changes as sufficient to clear the typical 130-point funding threshold.

Ramsel described the revised plan as 46 units overall — 32 two-bedroom units and 14 three-bedroom units — with a small number of market-rate apartments. "I actually have 4 market rate units, meaning there's no income restriction at all. I've got 8 at 80% of median income, and I've got the balance of them basically at 60% of median income," he said.

As part of the team's strategy to increase MHDC points, Ramsel said the development shifted from 4- and 6-plexes to duplexes. He said that change "literally gives us 5 more points" because duplexes can be paired with a tenant-to-owner conversion during the compliance period. Ramsel explained the conversion mechanism in detail: the compliance period would be 15 years, an appraisal is done at the end of that period, and tenants accrue a discount over time — roughly five percent per year — that reduces the purchase price when a unit is appraised for sale.

Ramsel also described a "time homebuyer" program that, he said, provides below-market interest rates and down-payment assistance as part of the MHDC structure. "It doesn't cost anything extra," he said, and the program is intended to help tenants build equity and transition to homeownership during the compliance period.

Council members asked clarifying questions about unit counts and how duplex sales would be handled if one side were purchased. Ramsel said units that remain rented will continue to be managed by the project until marketed, and vacated units could be opened to households with incomes at or below 80% of area median income.

The council read Bill No. 2024-27, a resolution supporting the LIHTC application for Teal Lake Phase 2, and moved for passage. The motion carried; the transcript records affirmative responses from council members but does not provide a detailed roll-call tally in the captured segments. The resolution expresses the city’s formal support for the project as the developer prepares its application to MHDC.

The developer stated it will re-submit the application to MHDC following the changes discussed; Ramsel said the same development team that built Phase 1 is involved and that a different general contractor has been engaged for Phase 2.

The council’s approval is a local expression of support and does not itself guarantee MHDC funding. According to Ramsel, the team believes the application has improved its competitiveness under MHDC’s scoring system and will pursue funding in the current cycle.