The second phase of The Elysian development in Downtown East is shovel ready, but the developers of the project may have to fill a funding gap if the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development asks the city-parish to return $311,000 in federal funds granted in 2009.
The city-parish has identified the federal funds as being available for the affordable housing project. The Metro Council, however, learned on Wednesday that HUD may recapture the funds, which have an expenditure deadline. If that happens, the amount of federal HOME Investment Partnership Program funds the city-parish can commit for phase II of the Elysian project would be reduced.
“That’s very disappointing because every year we go through the same thing,” says Councilwoman Donna Collins-Lewis.
Mayor Kip Holden’s administration had asked the council for authorization to execute an agreement to loan $1.1 million in HOME funds to the Gulf Coast Housing Partnership, The Elysian’s lead developer.
The agreement is now contingent on the HUD money. It’s unclear when the city-parish will learn whether it has to return the funds. The council OK’d Holden request anyway.
The Elysian is a mixed-income apartment complex located at the intersection of North 13th Street and Spanish Town Road. The 110,300-square-foot complex opened in mid-2013 and was built with the goal of breathing new life into its surrounding area.
Gulf Coast Housing Partnership also purchased an adjacent property on Spanish Town Road for the second phase of the development. The East Baton Rouge Redevelopment Authority gave $800,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant funding to the project last year. The second phase has an estimated $17.2 million price tag.
