Tax Credits Could Jumpstart Powder Springs Senior Living Complex

The Powder Springs City Council is set to vote Monday on whether to remove a previous stipulation on a proposed senior living complex that says the low-income occupancy cannot exceed 20 percent.

Those behind the project want the stipulation bumped up to 90 to 95 percent, or removed completely, in order to gain tax-credit financing from the government.

“One thing we’ve got to make clear is this is a senior living facility; this is not low-income housing for families,” Candler Development’s Asa Candler told the council at Wednesday’s work session.

Land for the proposed four-story facility, Oasis at Powder Springs, was bought in 2008 at the intersection of Sailors Parkway and Highway 278. Also set to be built on the land is a shopping center facing the road.

“We didn’t think we were going to have any problem with financing because everything was going good back then. … We’ve taken a beating since then real estate-wise, and there are a lot of other folks out there that have, too,” Candler said.

So Candler and Philip Searles, president of the Beverly J. Searles Foundation, are looking to federal tax credits, administered by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, to help get the financing going. The nonprofit foundation seeks to provide affordable housing for seniors across the country.

Searles emphasized that the tax credits are a “financing mechanism” and not an “operating mechanism,” and that they aren’t government subsidies.

“The big difference is that my residents pay rent. They pay their hard-earned cash or their Social Security to live in my property,” he said, adding that a one-bedroom apartment is $650 a month, including utilities.

Those living in such facilities typically resemble the demographics already in the area, Searles said. The seniors usually move into the complex from nearby, or move from farther away to be near their children, he added.

With the low-income classification set at roughly $31,000 a year, 77 percent of all seniors fall in the category, Candler said.

In other business:

As the city since January from the rise in utility rates from the county, the council is set to vote Monday on that would charge businesses more but smaller households less.

Council members said this move would ensure that households aren’t “subsidizing” the water and sewer bills of businesses from residents.

Councilwoman Nancy Hudson continued to show hesitations for fear that the move would make the city appear less “business friendly.”

Former Councilman Tom Bevirt , while Councilman Chris Wizner .

The council is also set to vote Monday on either an $851,000 or $872,000 contract for renovations on the former police station behind the Town Square, which remains the Municipal Court building.

The price difference depends on whether the council wants to finish out a particular room on the 20-year-old building.

Members were concerned about the price jump, with Councilwoman Rosalyn Neal saying, “You could redo a whole kitchen” for the difference in price.

Funding for the project is coming from $673,000 from the previous SPLOST and the $300,000 remaining from the same bond behind .