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Developer given option to buy 'Sunflower Field' for proposed senior LIHTC housing; funding decision pending
Summary
Commission authorized an option-to-purchase agreement with Waba Development Company for two city parcels known as the Sunflower Field to enable a proposed 55+ multifamily project financed with low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC); staff said the project depends on tax-credit awards expected in May–June.
The Springfield City Commission approved an emergency option-to-purchase agreement with Waba Development Company for two adjoining city-owned parcels (501 West Euclid Avenue and 1029 South Plum Street), advancing a tentative plan for an affordable senior housing development that would rely on low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC).
Logan Cobbs, the city’s director of community development, presented the proposal and described the project as a multifamily, senior (55+) affordable housing development that would use LIHTC as a primary financing tool. "This proposal is for a multifamily affordable housing development. It would be senior, so 55 and older. It’s also a LIHTC project," Cobbs said. Cobbs told commissioners the LIHTC funding decision is expected in May or June and that the option before the commission is contingent on that award; if credits are awarded the city would return with a final purchase agreement.
Cobbs also said Waba Development is a family-based company in operation since 1980 with a mission to develop safe, affordable housing for seniors and other underserved groups. The city framed the vote as an option to preserve the development pathway pending external funding rather than a final sale.
The motion was moved, seconded and approved on a unanimous roll call. City staff listed the next procedural step as returning with a final purchase agreement contingent on LIHTC funding.
