Published On: Mon, Jul 30th, 2018

$20,700,000 Awarded to Ocean Breeze East Project within the Boynton Beach CRA’s Heart of Boynton Beach District

Boca Raton, FL – New affordable apartments are coming to the Heart of Boynton community. On July 27, 2018, the Florida Housing Finance Corporation (FHFC) awarded RS Development Corp. (a/k/a Ocean Breeze East Apartments, LLC, OBEAL) $2,700,000 in Annual Housing Tax Credits for ten years from its 9% Low Income Housing Tax Credit allocation to build a multi-family apartment complex consisting of 123 units. OBEAL, a for-profit affordable housing developer from Miami Lakes, was the successful respondent to the CRA’s Request for Proposal and Developer’s Qualifications (RFP/RFQ) for the CRA-owned 4.4 acre Ocean Breeze East site in August 2017.  The Ocean Breeze East site was among 25 eligible sites, among six of the seven largest counties in Florida that competed for the estimated $14,601,863 of Annual Housing Credits available in 2017.  Of the 33 applications received, six were from Palm Beach County.

The 9% Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program is the federal government’s primary program for encouraging the investment of private equity in the development of affordable rental housing for low and very low-income households.  The Program is designed to assist for-profit and non-profit organizations by applying a dollar-for-dollar reduction in their federal tax liability in exchange for the construction of new low and very low income rental housing units. A Housing Credit allocation to a development may be used for ten consecutive years once the development is placed in service and affordability is maintained for a period of 50 years. The award of the FHFC funds will leverage the City and CRA’s $567,500 local contribution and allow OBEAL to use $800,000 towards its land acquisition cost for the 4.3 acre site purchased from the CRA. The money received from the sale of the property may be used by the CRA to support other affordable housing, economic development, infrastructure, or removal of slum and blight initiatives, as allowed by Florida Statutes in furtherance of the CRA Plan.

The urban infill project will consist of 3-story affordable multi-family rental apartment buildings, recreational amenities, upgraded landscaping, and associated parking, in addition to about 990 square feet of ‘flex space’ to be used as the Neighborhood Officer Program (NOP) office and  a community center. The collaboration between the FHFC, City, CRA, and OBEAL, will result in quality modern affordable units at projected monthly rents of $392 to $782 for a one bedroom, $469 to $937 for a two bedroom and $535 to $1,075 for a three bedroom unit.  Eligible applicants must earn household incomes of no more than 33% or 60% of Area Median Income to qualify.  Construction is anticipated to begin immediately following site plan and building permit approvals from the City.  The estimated construction period for the project is about 20 months from the issuance of the required permits.

As part of the purchase and development agreement with the CRA, OBEAL has also committed to prioritize the use of local contractors, sub-contractors, and to hire local residents as a part of the development operations team. These efforts will include hosting a job fair and providing employment opportunities within the community.

Lewis Swezy, President of OBEAL, says, “We have been looking forward to this day for a long time. We are grateful for the opportunity to be part of the new and exciting plans for the City of Boynton Beach. We have been in business for over 37 years and take pride in building beautiful communities and providing affordable housing.”

“The CRA was fully committed to financially assisting OBEAL to complete this important housing project if we were unsuccessful during this application cycle. By receiving the 9% LIHTC funding award, millions of CRA dollars can now be used on other priority projects throughout the CRA boundary area over the next ten years,” says Michael Simon, CRA Executive Director.

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