NEW HOUSING PROJECTS SCHEDULED FOR CAPE, PERRYVILLE; CITY TO GET 15 LOW-INCOME RENTAL UNITS

Fifteen single-family, rental homes will be built on scattered vacant lots in southeast Cape Girardeau under a partnership to provide affordable housing.

Government tax credits, a low-interest loan and private investment will be used to fund the $1.2 million project.

Local builder Chuck Moutell and Housing Missouri, a statewide tax-credit financing vehicle, are partners in the project to build three-bedroom houses on vacant lots. The development is called Southeast Properties.

Housing Missouri owns 99 percent of the project, with Moutell owning the other 1 percent.

"But Chuck is going to run it; he is going to manage it and control it," said Tim Barry, president of St. Louis-based Housing Missouri.

Each of the frame houses will be just over 1,000 square feet with three bedrooms and basements.

The houses will be rented to low- and moderate-income tenants. A family of five could qualify if their annual income doesn't exceed $23,500.

The houses will rent for $375 a month.

Moutell said some of the houses could be built and rented by the end of the year, with the remainder completed in 1997.

The Missouri Housing Development Commission approved funding for 22 projects Friday, including the Cape Girardeau development.

The projects were chosen from among 75 applications.

A request by a Kansas City firm for tax credits to fund a 48-unit apartment complex on Hackberry in south Cape Girardeau was denied.

Commission staff said there wasn't enough money to fund all the projects.

The commission Friday allocated $4.6 million of the $6.5 million in tax credits it had to work with this year.

The state treasurer, Bob Holden, chairs the commission, whose members also include Gov. Mel Carnahan and other top state officials.

Holden said the public-private partnerships will create 700 units of affordable housing in Missouri.

Local business and civic leaders announced the Cape Girardeau housing project Monday.

"It will help rebuild older sections of town," said John Mehner, president of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce.

"I don't think there are any losers in this project. Everyone is a winner," said Bob Robins of Union Electric. UE is one of the major investors in Housing Missouri.

Affordable housing is vital to attracting new industry. Employers want to know if there is affordable housing for their workers, said Mitch Robinson, executive director of the Cape Girardeau Area Industrial Recruitment Association.

"You want entry-level workers, you have to have a place for them to live," he said.

The project will be financed with a loan of $477,100 at 1 percent interest for 40 years to be leveraged with federal and state housing tax credits.

Southeast Properties will receive federal and state tax credits of $174,567 annually for 10 years.

Private investment through Housing Missouri is expected to provide $941,000 over six years.

Housing Missouri has helped build more than 35 affordable homes since it was created in 1995.

Last year, it had $1.7 million in private investment from seven businesses and hopes to raise that much or more this year.

Currently, there are about 10 corporate investors from the banking, utility and insurance industries. Besides Union Electric, the major investors are St. Joseph Power and Light, Mark Twain Bank, General American Life, Roosevelt Bank and Boatmen's Bank.

Barry said a new partnership is set up each year. The businesses invest in housing projects and receive state and federal tax credits in return.

The investors make money and at the same time improve their communities, he said.

Moutell said the houses must remain rental property for at least 15 years. After 15 years, the houses could be sold to tenants, he said.

Housing Missouri was modeled after the St. Louis Equity Fund, which Barry also runs.

St. Louis Equity Fund was established in 1988. It has raised more than $24 million from 31 corporate investors, and helped build more than 700 homes for low-income families in the St. Louis area.