The new rooftops visible from U.S. 77 in southwest Lincoln represent a new model for affordable housing in Lincoln — a whole neighborhood with a mix of affordable and market-rate apartments and homes, some for rent, some available to buy.
There will be small parks and a fitness center, walking trails and community spaces eventually, but on this windy Tuesday, the new neighborhood was populated by a large group of elected officials, community leaders and housing advocates there to cut the ceremonial ribbon on the project.
“This is a comprehensively designed neighborhood with affordability as the core background and core component,†Jake Hoppe, managing partner of Hoppe Development, told the group.Â
Hoppe Development is the company that created Foxtail Meadows, a 600-unit mixed-income neighborhood near South Folsom Street and West Pioneers Boulevard.
The first phase of the project includes 166 rental units that are a combination of traditional apartment and row homes affordable to families with incomes at 60% of the Area Median Income or below and are open for leasing.
Eventually, there will be another 30 row-style homes for sale. Thirteen of them being built by Habitat for Humanity will be targeted to families at 60% of Area Median Income; 17 will be built in collaboration with Nebraska Housing Resource and Scheele Kayton Construction and targeted to families at 80% of Area Median Income.
There are commercial lots available for a convenience store and small-scale commercial businesses, and the plans include future development of another 400 units affordable to families at 80% of Area Median Income.
When Hoppe returned to Nebraska to work with the family business, he researched some “cutting-edge urban design concepts†that mixed scales of housing around walkability and various amenities, but none of them included affordable housing, he said.
So they started looking for a place to create such a neighborhood.
“Part of the idea of that was questioning the paradigm that affordable housing had to be in sort of overlooked infill lots that weren’t suitable for market-rate housing, but ... could be in areas of high economic growth with sort of strong community infrastructure — and that's what we found on this site, and what we were trying to experiment with," he said.
They wanted to come up with the right mix of housing so that anyone would want to live there, but that also were affordable for lower-income residents, he said.
They found a spot near Hope Community Church, 4700 S. Folsom St., and asked church officials how they felt about having new neighbors.
Pastor Jon Garbison said Tuesday they are excited and promised to help make the new rooftops a neighborhood where everyone belongs and can thrive.
“We purchased this land over 20 years ago and at that point had no idea what would grow up around us, but we built a church right in the middle of this property and just kind of waited patiently,†he said.
Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird said the city is pleased to have partnered with Hoppe Development on affordable housing — a priority of her administration. Thanks to projects like this they’re ahead of their benchmarks to create or rehabilitate 5,000 affordable housing units by 2030, she said.
The city contributed $3.74 million to the project, including $2.59 million in tax-increment financing, which allows developers to use future property taxes the redevelopment generates to pay for certain up-front costs; and $1.15 million from its affordable housing fund and an annexation agreement that included infrastructure improvements.
Shannon Harner, executive director of Nebraska Investment Finance Authority, said the project also includes $26.7 million in federal and state low-income housing tax credits. An additional $1.5 million came from the federal American Rescue Plan Act.
Other funding for the project came from the Lincoln Community Foundation, Community Development Resources and financing from a consortium of financial institutions.
Developers also worked with Lincoln Electric System to provide solar energy.
Fred Hoppe, principal of housing development, said Foxtail Meadows is one of the first neighborhoods in southwest Lincoln to make high-quality architectural design and first-class amenities accessible to families below the poverty level.
"Foxtail Meadows represents a novel way of considering neighborhood development, where affordability is considered a community asset and is integrated in a new suburban neighborhood design," he said.
"If we are going to address the affordable housing challenges of our communities, we have to build affordable housing at scale alongside market-rate housing, in highly desirable areas of town with strong schools, and supportive community infrastructure. This project delivers on these goals."