Developer seeks $200,000 from Astoria to close funding gap for Copeland Commons affordable-housing project

Julie Garber, a project leader with Innovative Housing, outlined plans for Copeland Commons and asked the Astoria Development Commission for possible help filling a remaining funding gap.

Garber said Copeland Commons combines rehabilitation of the historic Copeland building with a new adjacent structure to produce roughly 62–68 apartments, chiefly studios and one-bedrooms, plus a community room, courtyard and resident services. She described Innovative Housing as a private nonprofit that retains ownership of projects long term and provides resident services to stabilize tenants.

The presenter detailed a funding stack that includes a $12 million Oregon Housing & Community Services state grant, about $10 million from low-income housing tax credits, $2.4 million in historic tax credits, $1.5 million pledged by the local Copeland Commons fundraising group and roughly $1.1 million of permanent mortgage financing. Garber said there remains a roughly $700,000 unidentified gap; she asked the city to consider a $200,000 contribution to help close that shortfall.

"We're very close to reaching our fundraising goal," Garber said. She added that the Copeland Commons board has raised most of the $1.5 million it pledged and that the Main Street grant request for $400,000 is being counted as raised for the project. "An investment of $200,000 over a 60-year affordability period helps buy down rents for residents," she said.

Garber sketched a permitting and financing timeline: architects and consultants will work through September, the landmarks packet is scheduled for July, permits would be submitted in October, low-income housing tax credits would be available in January–February, and Garber said the team hopes to close construction financing in February and begin construction in March. She also said the project will use historic tax credits that require National Park Service and local Landmarks review.

The presentation included project costs and operating projections. Garber described total hard and soft costs presented on slides as roughly $29.8 million and cited per-unit development cost figures shown in the materials. She also shared year‑one operating figures: net operating income of about $142,000 and a first‑year mortgage payment around $83,600. Garber warned that cash flow declines over time and that a refinance would likely be required around year 20.

On rents, Garber said the project will set units by AMI tiers. Presentation slides listed studio rents in the range the presenter read as "$4.22 to $9.28" and one‑bedroom rents as "$4.53 to $9.96" to indicate the relative rent bands tied to 30%–60% AMI levels; those figures reflect how the presenter displayed them on the slide. Garber said she collected market comparables on Monday from Craigslist, Apartments.com and Zillow, limited to listings within Astoria city limits.

Garber also told the commission that the project faces a Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) prevailing‑wage determination treating construction as subject to commercial prevailing wages because the building's historic use was commercial. She said IHI has appealed that determination and that if the appeal fails it could add about $2.5 million in costs; the determination has also influenced the decision to pursue a five‑story plan (68 units) while hedging back to a four‑story, 62‑unit option if prevailing wages are overturned.

Commissioners asked about priority leasing and resident demand. Garber proposed a longer priority leasing window of 4–6 weeks (she said the Merwin used two weeks and that she wanted to extend the period for Copeland) and said the Merwin currently has a waitlist of roughly 20 people. She described resident services and eviction‑prevention practices used at the Merwin and said managing more than one building creates efficiencies for staffing and services.

Next steps: Garber said the project team will continue value engineering to close the small funding gap, submit the landmarks packet in July, and pursue state full‑funding commitment in June 2025 so tax-credit and construction‑loan timing can proceed. The commission did not take a formal vote on the request; staff will carry the topic forward in future meetings.