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Presentation, discussion, and possible action regarding a Material Amendment to the Housing Tax Credit Application for Sun Pointe (HTC #21130/23932)
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RECOMMENDED ACTION
recommendation
WHEREAS, Sun Pointe (the Development) received an award of 9% Housing Tax Credits (HTCs) in 2021 and Supplemental Credits in 2023 to rehabilitate 146 units of multifamily housing in El Paso, El Paso County;
WHEREAS, EP Sun Pointe, LP (the Development Owner or Owner) requests approval for changes in the unit mix, replacing one one-bedroom and one three-bedroom units with two two-bedroom units; a 9,782 square foot (6.13%) reduction in the Net Rentable Area (NRA) from the NRA represented in the Application; and an increase in the size of the Development site from 10.21 acres to 10.8281 acres, which results in a 5.71% decrease in residential density from 14.30 units per acre to 13.48 units per acre;
WHEREAS, Board approval is required for a modification of the bedroom mix of units, for a reduction of 3% or more in the square footage of the units or common area, and for a modification of the residential density of at least 5%, as directed in Tex. Gov’t Code §2306.6712(d)(2), (4), and (6) and 10 TAC §10.405(a)(4)(B), (D), and (F), and the Owner has complied with the amendment requirements therein; and
WHEREAS, the requested changes do not negatively affect the Development, impact the viability of the transaction, impact the scoring of the Application, or affect the amount of funding awarded;
NOW, therefore, it is hereby
RESOLVED, that the requested amendment for Sun Pointe is approved as presented at this meeting, and the Executive Director and his designees are each hereby authorized, directed, and empowered to take all necessary action to effectuate the foregoing.
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BACKGROUND
Sun Pointe received an award of 9% Housing Tax Credits in 2021 and Supplemental Credits in 2023 to rehabilitate 146 units of multifamily housing originally constructed in 1973. Rehabilitation of the Development has been completed, and the cost certification documentation is currently under review by the Department. In a letter dated May 13, 2025, Alyssa Carpenter, the Owner’s representative, stated the need for a material amendment stemming from three separate changes.
At Application, the acreage did not include any of the area of the three right-of-way cul-de-sacs that served the Development. During the redevelopment process, the City of El Paso vacated one cul-de-sac and part of a second cul-de-sac along Maxwell Street and that area is now part of the Development site, resulting in an increase in the Development’s acreage from 10.21 acres to 10.8281 acres. This represents an increase of 0.6181-acre, resulting in a 5.71% decrease in residential density from 14.30 units per acre to 13.48 units per acre. The additional acreage for the cul-de-sacs released from the right-of-way further allowed for increased parking capacity on the Development site. Total parking increased from 172 on-site and 13 street/cul-de-sac parking spaces to 195 total on-site parking spaces. The enclosed table compares the site plans of the Development at Application and the revised site plan at project completion.
At Application, the proposed bedroom mix was 26 one-bedroom, 76 two-bedroom, and 44 three-bedroom units. Two one-bedroom, four two-bedroom, and two three-bedroom units were proposed as mobility units. In order to comply with the need to distribute accessible units across the unit sizes, the unit mix was modified by converting a one-bedroom and a three-bedroom unit to be configured as two additional two-bedroom units resulting in a total of 25 one-bedroom, 78 two-bedroom, and 43 three-bedroom units.
Initially, the plan was to reconfigure a portion of the two-story townhomes into flats to provide adequate mobility accessible units. In order to alter some townhouse units, the original Application proposed additions to each building that would add a small amount of square footage in order to maintain adequate unit and bedroom sizes in the new flat units. However, this proved to be cost prohibitive. Keeping the existing townhouse footprints and eliminating the new construction additions in most of the buildings reduced the Net Rentable Area (NRA) from 159,676 square feet to 149,894 square feet. This results in a reduction of 9,782 square feet (6.13%) from the proposed NRA at Application.
The requested changes do not materially alter the Development in a negative manner and were not reasonably foreseeable or preventable by the Development Owner at the time of Application. The final HTC amount will be determined upon finalization of the cost certification review process.
Staff recommends approval of the amendment request as presented herein. If this amendment is approved, the Land Use Restriction Agreement will be amended to reflect the increased acreage for the Development.