A cloud of uncertainty has surrounded the senior housing project slated to be built at the St. Patrick School parking lot after it was discovered that NH Housing would not fund a $3.5 million tax credit to subsidize construction. 
A cloud of uncertainty has surrounded the senior housing project slated to be built at the St. Patrick School parking lot after it was discovered that NH Housing would not fund a $3.5 million tax credit to subsidize construction.  Credit: Ledger-Transcript file photo

Plans for a senior housing development on Main Street have been put on hold indefinitely after a key funding source was denied.

Keith Thibault, chief development officer at Southwestern Community Services, said an application for a $3.5 million NH Housing federal tax credit was not approved, rendering the project without about 2/3 of the funding required to build it. 

“I’m not sure what the future will bring for this project, but we will not be moving forward with the development at this time,” said Thibault. “We are going to analyze the project to see if it would be feasible to apply for funding next year.”

SCS had planned to construct a three-story, 24-unit senior housing complex, situated in the parking lot next to St. Patrick School. SCS had already had the appropriate approvals in place from the town, with funding being the last piece of the puzzle. 

Thibault said that in analyzing the viability of the project, SCS is going to work with NH Housing to see if any changes can be made to the application process. Thibault said NH Housing changes its criteria slightly every year, which could work in the project’s favor. 

Currently, the biggest challenge the Jaffrey project would have to overcome, according to Thibault, is that preference is given to projects with non-age restricted housing. Rather than changing the proposed project in Jaffrey, Thibault said the goal is to change NH Housing’s preferences in the application.

“That preference offers an additional ten points,” said Thibault. “We scored an 86, an additional ten points could have funded the project.”

Thibault said SCS received a Community Block Grant that would have funded $500,000 of the project, but SCS withdrew its application after realizing there wouldn’t be enough funds for construction. SCS also withdrew a $550,000 application from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston.

“I’m disappointed, but [not receiving funding] is not unusual,” said Thibault. “I’m more disappointed for all the local people who were involved.”

Nicholas Handy can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 235 or nhandy@ledgertranscript.com. He is also on Twitter @nhandyMLT.