CHFA Announces First TCAP Award in Colorado

Colorado became one of the very first states in the country to tap into the Tax Credit Assistance Program (TCAP) funds created for affordable housing development and preservation in The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA), who is administering the state’s $27.3 million TCAP fund, awarded Community Housing Concepts, Inc. (CHC) $1.7 million in TCAP funds to purchase and renovate Denver Gardens, a 100-unit affordable senior apartment complex in southeast Denver. The award will support CHC’s plans to upgrade the property, originally built in 1979. Additional financing for the Denver Gardens project was obtained through Citi Community Capital and from the sale of $758,970 in low-income housing tax credits awarded to CHC by CHFA earlier this year. The purchaser of the tax credits, WNC & Associates, is contributing $5.5 million in equity to the project.

CHC proposes to update the property’s individual units with energy-efficient windows and appliances, as well as painting and adding bathroom amenities for residents. Among the exterior improvements planned are updating the siding, trim, painting, and concrete repairs. CHC applied for and received a pledge for grant money from the Governor’s Energy Office and Energy Outreach Colorado, which CHC will allocate toward components such as photovoltaic panels being placed on the building’s rooftop.

Denver’s Road Home has also pledged grant money for the project as several units will be set aside for homeless and at-risk individuals. Funding from Denver’s Road Home will be used for services to be provided for all of Denver Gardens’ residents.