Upward Communities pitches privately financed workforce housing; Marion County to explore financial and legal details

Jason Roberts, founder and CEO of Upward Communities, told Marion County commissioners on Nov. 17 that his company can build single-family quality rental communities targeted to essential staff and finance them through a nonprofit vehicle to access tax-exempt bonds.

"We are 100% privately funded," Roberts said, explaining Upward would use a Public Private Development Corporation (PPDC) to issue lease-style, tax-exempt financing and enter a master lease with the county. He said the structure is designed so the project debt sits on the nonprofit's balance sheet and the company bears the primary financing risk.

The proposal aims to address what Roberts described as a regional shortage of affordable options for teachers, police officers, firefighters, nurses and other essential employees, who he said are often forced to live far from work. Roberts said unit mixes would include mostly detached single-family houses with some duplexes near a town center, and that 50% or more of units would be prioritized for public-sector staff.

County officials pressed the developer on legal and financial exposure. The clerk, citing early conversations with county bond counsel and the county's financial advisor, said the project's scale could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars and warned the county must confirm the proposed lease structure will not create contingent liability or jeopardize existing conduit programs. The clerk estimated the county's current annual debt service is about $4.5 million and said, as an illustration, bringing similar debt onto county books could raise annual debt service toward the mid-teens of millions of dollars.

Roberts said his intent is not to have Marion County assume the developer's debt and repeated that Upward would assume appropriations risk and, if necessary, take the property back rather than pursue county payments. He also said Upward posts reserves and expects to operate the communities with an experienced property manager; Roberts cited reserve-account planning and a back-ended developer-fee model intended to align interests over a multi-decade lease.

Commissioners asked for concrete examples. Roberts pointed to projects in Texas — including an approved Hays ISD program with 364 homes in a first phase and a Lockhart ISD project — and said other counties (including a Franklin County, Fla., pilot) had expressed interest. He estimated a practical smallest pilot at roughly 150 units because of fixed design, legal and infrastructure costs.

On tenant costs, Roberts offered sample monthly rents for larger units (he cited $1,600 for a three-bedroom and $1,800 for a four-bedroom in his model) and said the company plans to cap annual rent increases at about 3.75%, with routine maintenance and common-area services covered in the rent. He acknowledged some transcript figures were discussed informally during the meeting and said precise numbers would be part of the next-stage financial model.

After extended discussion about bond counsel review, lease language, reserve sizing and operational safeguards, the board agreed to let county staff, the clerk's office and the county's bond counsel continue due diligence with Upward. Chairman Bridal asked staff to coordinate a follow-up briefing after the new year; commissioners did not approve any lease or bond issuance at the workshop.

The next procedural step is a technical review by bond counsel and the county's financial advisor; staff will report back to the board with legal memos and a recommended path forward before any formal commitment.