Closing the Affordability Gap

Project for Pride in Living asks the Phillips Partnership to finance affordable housing at Midtown Exchange

December 2004—The Phillips Partnership is exploring options for financing the $730,000 gap between production cost and sales price that would allow non-profit developer Project for Pride in Living to offer 21 units of affordable housing out of a total of 52 new townhomes and flats being planned for the Midtown Exchange.

"The Greenway at Midtown" townhomes

Ten of these units would be sold at 80 percent of median area income, and 11 at 50 percent.

When completed in the summer of 2006, “The Greenway at Midtown" will wrap a 1,425-stall parking ramp now under construction on the east side of 10th Avenue, across the street from the former Sears building. The units will face north onto the Midtown Greenway and east onto 11th Avenue.

Average purchase price will be $185,000.

“The Greenway at Midtown project fulfills two very important objectives for the Midtown Exchange redevelopment,” said Rick Collins, lead developer for the Ryan Companies team on Midtown Exchange. “In addition to meeting very important affordability goals for ownership housing at Midtown Exchange, the project will provide a wonderful buffer to the neighborhood, effectively shielding our six-level parking ramp from our neighbors.”

Project manager Christopher Wilson said PPL has conducted focus groups that indicate a solid market for the one- and two-bedroom flats and townhomes. He said PPL is on schedule to begin pre-selling units by February 2005, with the goal of 50-percent sold before ground breaks in December of that year. He added that design development has begun on the site.