INHS outlines pipeline: Village Grove occupancy, tax‑credit financing, resident services and senior housing plans

Kate Deagarza, executive director of Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services, gave the committee an extensive review of INHS operations, financing and development plans.

Deagarza said INHS now manages close to 700 rental units across its service area, with roughly 500 of those in Tompkins County. She described four business lines — property management, real‑estate development, manufactured‑home community ownership, and homeownership/repair programs — and said manufactured housing and resident services are areas of growth. "We are both a very urban and a very rural responding nonprofit agency that really tries to meet the need for affordable housing across all different types of communities in our service area," she said.

Deagarza walked members through Village Grove in Trumansburg — 46 rental units, a new on‑site childcare facility prioritized for participants in workforce training, and 10 homes sold into a community housing trust — and noted the project relied on a capital stack that included tax‑credit equity. She explained the national Low‑Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) remains the primary financing mechanism for new affordable rental housing and described the typical investor partnership and compliance checks that accompany tax‑credit projects.

Deagarza also discussed Compass, a manufactured‑home community acquisition (the county is supporting a CHDF award for Compass redevelopment phase 2), and said INHS is the first nonprofit in the state to wholly own a manufactured‑home park. She emphasized the organization’s resident services work — a trauma‑informed approach that includes an on‑site social worker, eviction prevention efforts, and partnerships for food and benefit assistance — and said INHS has stabilized dozens of households through emergency aid and coordinated supports.

On pipeline projects, Deagarza said INHS has tax‑credit projects in development (Varna and Meadow Street parcels) and is pursuing a senior housing project called "The Lucy" that aims to pair senior units with childcare to score better in state funding competitions. She said state LIHTC rounds are competitive; the organization did not receive a senior award in the most recent 9% round and is pursuing alternative financing avenues.

Committee members asked about property‑tax treatment and pilot agreements; Deagarza explained nonprofit affordable housing typically pays taxes and that state statute 581A provides reduced tax burdens for qualifying affordable housing. She also described operating and replacement reserve rules for LIHTC projects and the challenges of funding unit turns and capital needs during the initial compliance period.

"If you look where the enterprise box is, it says they're the 99.9% owner of the project. And then you look at us and we're 0.01%." Deagarza used that example to show the partnership structure and the level of organizational commitment required to operate tax‑credit housing.

Deagarza closed by thanking county supports and encouraging legislators to tour developments. The committee thanked INHS for the presentation and for its role as a local housing partner.