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Presentation, discussion, and possible action regarding a Material Amendment to the Housing Tax Credit Application for Trinity East Senior (HTC #25090)
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RECOMMENDED ACTION
recommendation
WHEREAS, Trinity East Senior (the Development) received an award of 9% Housing Tax Credits (HTCs) in 2025 for the new construction of 90 units for the elderly population in Houston, Harris County;
WHEREAS, Trinity East 9% Affordable Senior, LP (the Applicant) requests approval for a reduction in the Common Area from 15,213 square feet to 14,174 square feet, representing a reduction of 1,039 square feet or 6.83% from the Common Area represented at Application;
WHEREAS, Board approval is required for a reduction of 3% or more in the square footage of the Common Area as directed in Tex. Gov’t Code §2306.6712(d)(4) and 10 TAC §10.405(a)(4)(D), and the Applicant has complied with the amendment requirements therein; and
WHEREAS, the requested change does not negatively affect the Development, impact the viability of the transaction, impact the scoring of the Application, or affect the amount of housing tax credits awarded;
NOW, therefore, it is hereby
RESOLVED, that the requested amendment for Trinity East Senior 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
Trinity East Senior received an award of 9% Housing Tax Credits in 2025 for the new construction of 90 low-income units for the elderly population in Houston, Harris County. In a letter dated February 23, 2026, John Welsh, the representative for the Applicant, requested approval for a reduction in the Common Area from 15,213 square feet to 14,174 square feet, a reduction of 6.83% or 1,039 square feet. This change resulted in a slight change in the square footage of the units, going from 657 square feet to 641 square feet, which decreased the total net rentable area by 1,440 square feet (2.44%), from 59,130 square feet to 57,690 square feet. Because the change to the net rentable area is less than 3%, it is not considered a material alteration.
The Applicant states the change was due to adjustments to the amenities to make them more valuable to residents. With the federal government making large cuts to the SNAP benefits program, the Development’s resident service provider was concerned about food insecurities for their residents. Therefore, they requested adjustments to the community room and kitchen space to allow meals to be served to all residents, multiple times a week. To facilitate the change, the design team shifted the community room and kitchen space to the other side of the amenity area, closer to the parking lot, where caterers could easily access the kitchen. The community room was enlarged to allow for more tables and chairs. A food pantry and storage closet for dining tables and chairs were also added to the space. The overall manager office, leasing office, and service provider office spaces were reduced to allow for the additional space for the community room and kitchen.
As a requirement by the City of Houston (the City), an additional electrical room was added and adjustments to the fire riser/pump room to double its size were also made. This required the design team to shift the fitness center, but this shift allowed the fitness center to also double in size and gave it access to an outer wall so residents can look out of the windows while they exercise. The increase in the fitness center area required another HVAC unit, which led to the need for an additional HVAC closet. While the electrical room and fire riser/pump room are not part of the common area square footage, the changes contributed to the need to make the overall amenity spaces more efficient to accommodate all the necessary mechanical/electrical spaces. This additional electrical room was also required by the City to serve the on-site back-up generator. With this change, the Applicant was also able to add a second elevator.
The Applicant indicated that the requested changes were not reasonably foreseeable at the time of application because the resident services provider had not yet determined the impact of the SNAP benefit reductions on the residents and the design team had not received the feedback from the City of Houston regarding the changes to the fire riser/pump room and electrical room requirements.
The change to the Common Area square footage does not materially alter the Development in a negative manner and was not reasonably foreseeable or preventable by the Development Owner at the time of Application. The Owner has indicated that there was no net financial impact on the Development because of the proposed change. Staff has determined that this change does not affect the scoring of the Application or the HTC award, and the Development will continue to meet the accessibility requirements. The final recommended HTC amount will be determined upon finalization of the cost certification process.
Staff recommends approval of the amendment request as presented herein.