County Commissioners OK $37 million in tax-exempt revenue bonds for Wilkes Villa project

The Lorain County commissioners voted to approve the issuance of tax-exempt revenue bonds by Raise Up, formerly known as the Lorain Metropolitan Housing Authority, in an amount of $37 million during Tuesday's meeting. The Lorain County commissioners' approval acts as a formal matter in allowing Raise Up to access the $37 million in tax-exempt revenue bonds, according to the commissioners and an official with the housing authority, known as Raise Up. The funding will be used to renovate and rehabilitate Wilkes Villa, a 174-unit affordable housing complex in Elyria, said Colleen Dattilio, chief financial and development officer of Raise Up. "It is a public housing site that we are converting to multifamily," Dattilio said. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development "has for about the last 15 years been pushing public, private partnerships so that we can bring private equity into our projects for needed improvements because federal funding has just not been there." Total project costs will reach about $69 million, Dattilio said. Part of the project's funding will come from the federal government's Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, a program that incentivizes the building and reconstruction of affordable housing. "As a requirement of that program, we have to have tax-exempt bonds securing 50 percent of the total development costs," Dattilio said. During Tuesday's meeting, county commissioners questioned exactly where the funds would come from. "This is not a bond indebtedness of the county, this is of the project," said commissioner Jeff Riddell. "But by our approving the mission of the housing authority allows you to get the tax-exempt bonds, which helps you sell the bonds." Before Tuesday's vote, Riddell said the project would be an improvement of the affordable housing available. "We're getting improved low-to-moderate income housing," Riddell said. "My understanding of the process is that this is taking this from fully owned and managed by the federal government through the LMHA — this is a private-public partnership, which goes to serve to reduce the bureaucracy, as well as provide the funding for rehab and then future maintenance to the project," Riddell said. Dattilio added that the labor for the project will be sourced locally. "Our contractor is committed to using, to the extent that they can, local labor and materials," Dattilio said. "We're expecting a nice economic boost." According to Dattilio, Raise Up hopes to complete the project by August of 2027. Contact Garrett Looker at glooker@chroniclet.com.