During a glut of LIHTC projects offering studios and one-bedrooms, a wide coalition of partners opened a 150-unit affordable housing project in west Millcreek last month that offers a bevy of 3- and 4-bedroom apartments.
The project, at 4101 S. Howick St., will offer units priced for people making 30-60% of the area’s AMI. 11 of the apartments will be offered to persons transitioning out of homelessness with “wrap-around” services available on site.
Located in a slice of Millcreek sandwiched between South Salt Lake to the north and Murray to the south, Howick St. runs through a transitioning light-industrial corridor that sits adjacent to the UTA Trax north-south trunk line and Interstate-15.
Project details
Named The Howick, the project was developed by the Community Development Corporation of Utah (CDCU) and Blueline Development of Missoula, MT.
Its ownership group includes CDCU, Blueline, and The Richman Group, which claims to have one of the country’s largest portfolios of apartment properties. Founded in 1986 as an affordable housing syndicator and developer, Richman is also “an active developer of top of the market luxury rental apartments in Florida, California, Texas, Colorado and the Northeast” according to its website.
The Howick, looking northeast toward the University of Utah and Downtown. Credit: Utah Housing Corporation
Credit: Utah Housing Corporation
Designed by Shopworks architects based in Denver, the 150-unit building includes 41 one-bedroom, 40 two-bedroom, 41 three-bedroom, and 28 four-bedroom units.
Rents will range from $1,300 for a one-bedroom to $2,000 for a four-bedroom home, according to materials from the developer.
Most of the apartments will be offered at 60% AMI, with 11 units at 30% and another 11 at 50% AMI.
There are ample community spaces in the project, both indoor and outdoor. They include a community kitchen, a Kids Room, a meeting room, and computer workstations, as well as a plaza and a playground outside in the building’s raised courtyard.
Credit: Utah Housing Corporation
Credit: Utah Housing Corporation
Credit: Utah Housing Corporation
Credit: Utah Housing Corporation
Credit: Utah Housing Corporation
The project offers 160 parking stalls for its 150 units. The site sits 1/4 mile south of the UTA Meadowbrook Trax stop at 3900 South.
The Howick’s two-acre site was purchased as vacant land in May 2022, materials provided by CDCU state. Originally zoned M-1, project applicants successfully rezoned the parcel to Mixed Development (MD) in June 2022.
Operations
BlueLine Property Management is managing the property. Since the project will offer 11 units for people transitioning out of homelessness, additional management duties will be provided by case managers from First Step House, a local non-profit that provides housing-based assistance to people with “serious and chronic behavioral health conditions such as substance use disorder and mental illness.“
In addition, Community Navigators from CDCU “will also work closely with the property manager to support any struggling residents with financial and housing counseling to help stay current and avoid eviction,” Sarah Beaumont of CDCU wrote in an email.
Capital stack
The project’s financing is not unlike other LIHTC deals we see along the Wasatch.
The bulk of the equity for the $61 million project came from 4% Federal Low-income Housing Tax Credits and State Housing Tax Credits, worth approx. $27,000,000 and $3,000,000 respectively, Private activity bonds worth $30,000,000 were issued.
Construction and permanent financing came from Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust in Iowa, while the Olene Walker Housing Trust Fund, the Salt Lake County Housing Trust Fund, and the Utah Department of Workforce Services threw in nearly $7 million combined.
Event
On February 4, a ribbon-cutting ceremony featured speakers from CDCU, the Utah Housing Corporation, The Richman Group, and Salt Lake County and Millcreek government.
Nearly all officials who spoke praised the project for including family-sized units. 73% of the apartments in the building are 2-bedrooms or larger.
Todd Reeder, CEO of CDCU, described his organization as “a scrappy little nonprofit with huge aspirations – working on the front lines of housing security and financial stability.”
Together with First Step House, Reeder said, “we’ll help residents build budgets, develop action plans, strengthen financial stability, and connect to critical resources — always at the resident’s pace, and always with dignity.”
Terry Gentry, Executive Vice President at The Richman Group told the audience that his firm is committed to Utah, having invested over $270 million in the State in 21 projects over the past two years.
The building is currently leasing, and invites inquiries on its website.
THE HOWICK, 4101 S. Howick Street, Millcreek, Utah, 84107
Investor: The Richman Group
Developer: Community Development Corporation of Utah (CDCU) and Blueline Development
Architect: Shopworks
General Contractor: Headwaters
Property Manager: BlueLine Property Management
Case Manager + Resident Services: First Step House and CDCU
Editor’s note: This post was updated to clarify that the owners of the project include the Community Development Corporation of Utah and Blueline Development, in addition to The Richman Group.
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