2011 Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits Development of Distinction: Historic Rehabilitation

Winner

Appleton Mills

Developer: Trinity Financial, Inc.
Owner: Trinity Financial, Inc.
Location: Lowell, Mass.

The redevelopment of the historic Appleton Mills began when Trinity Hamilton Canal Limited Partnership was designated by Lowell, Massachusetts as master developer for 13 acres of land known as the Hamilton Canal District. The restoration was a high priority of the city, the local office of the National Park Service, and the governor’s administration, which designated the Hamilton Canal redevelopment area as a priority Growth District Initiative. The 130-unit project was financed through state and federal historic and low-income housing tax credits that were purchased by MetLife for $42 million dollars, the largest investment the insurer has made since it started investing in affordable-housing tax credits in 1995.

Development Team: Trinity Financial, MetLife, RedStone Equity Partners, Lowell Development and Financial Corporation, City of Lowell, MassHousing, MDHCD, ICON architecture Inc., CWC builders, Epsilon Associates, McPhail Associates Inc., Fort Point Associates Inc., Meridian Associates, Woodland Design Group, Reznick Group, Holland & Knight and WilmerHale.

Winner

St. Thomas Community Health Center

Developer: St. Thomas Community Health Center
Owner: Non-profit, section 330-funded Federally Qualified Health Center
Location: New Orleans, La.

St. Thomas Community Health Center, once a blighted 19th century building in a New Orleans National Register Historic District, is home to a 25-year-old not-for-profit, section 330-funded, federally qualified health center located in a highly distressed low-income community. Renovations stabilized and preserved the building’s original structure, historic architectural details, and brick cornice and stucco plaster finish. A complex financing structure used multiple state and federal tax credits and, collectively, new markets tax credits and state and federal historic tax credits contributed about 45 percent of total project funding sources.

Development Team: St. Thomas Community Health Center, AMCREF, Community Capital, Crescent Growth Capital, Capital Link and First National Bank of Commerce.

Honorable Mention

The Historic Park Inn & City National Bank Building

Developer: Wright on the Park, Inc.
Owner: Wright on the Park, Inc.
Location: Mason City, Iowa

The Historic Park Inn, built in 1906, is the last remaining hotel in the world designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright designed only seven hotels during his professional career. After the Mason City Council requested volunteers to lead the renovation of the building, a local citizens’ group formed Wright on the Park Inc., a not-for-profit entity whose mission was to own, preserve and maintain the hotel. Funding for the project included an $8.2 million dollar Vision Iowa grant, grants from Iowa Great Places and the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Save America’s Treasurers program, federal and state HTCs and numerous donor contributions.

Development Team: Wright in the Park Inc., Bergland & Cram, Henkel Construction, PlanScape Partners, Novogradac & Company LLP, Leverage Law, Futures Unlimited Law, Locher Law Firm, American Trust and Saving Bank, First Citizens Bank, Community National Bank, Clear Lake Bank and Trust, Gronen Properties, Iowa business Growth Company and HPI Partners.

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