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Fairfield Housing Corp seeks soft commitment from housing trust fund for 40‑unit LIHTC project
Summary
Fairfield Housing Corp asked the committee for a non‑binding housing trust fund commitment to strengthen a Low‑Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) application for a 40‑unit project at 980 High Street; the stated funding gap is about $1.5 million and the CHFA application is due Jan. 15.
The Fairfield Housing Corp asked the Supportive Housing Committee for a soft, non‑binding funding commitment on Wednesday to bolster a competitive LIHTC application for 980 High Street.
Carol, speaking for Fairfield Housing Corp, said the authority bought 980 High Street in February and converted planned market units into tax‑credit units so that "all 40 units now will fall under, you know, tax bridal, affordable, AMI AMI, designation." She told the committee the project faces a funding gap of "approximately 1,500,000" and that local resources can improve its competitiveness with the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority.
Unit mix and program timeline: Carol provided a breakdown she said the team is proposing: eight units at or below 80% AMI, six at or below 60% AMI, 16 at or below 50% AMI and 10 at or below 30% AMI, for a total of 40 units. The LIHTC application to CHFA is due Jan. 15; award decisions would most likely appear at CHFA’s March board meeting or possibly in April.
What the committee can do now: Staff said prior practice has been to provide "soft commitment" letters from the housing trust fund that signal local support and help applicants score points in competitive LIHTC rounds; such letters are non‑binding and any formal allocation would come later with Affordable Housing Committee and Board of Selectmen approvals. Mark Barnhart offered to provide a draft similar to prior commitments and noted the housing trust fund has uncommitted dollars to leverage outside funding sources.
Why it matters: Local leverage can materially affect CHFA scoring in a competitive LIHTC round; Carol stressed the program’s competitiveness and said a modest local chunk of funding could materially strengthen the application and help close the roughly $1.5 million gap. The committee did not vote on a funding allocation at the meeting but indicated staff could prepare a soft commitment letter for submission with the tax credit application.
Next steps: Developers and staff will finalize required application materials for Jan. 15 and staff will draft a non‑binding letter indicating the town’s willingness to consider housing trust fund support pending formal approvals.
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