A Chattanooga panel on Wednesday approved more affordable housing and, for the first time, used a new financing package to help solve what one official called “skyrocketing” rents in the city.
“The diversity of projects we have for housing is imperative,” said Hicks Armor, who heads the city’s Health, Educational and Housing Facility Board, adding that costs are “skyrocketing in places where people can’t truly afford housing.”
The panel endorsed a 47-unit apartment complex planned for 1715 Union Ave. in Highland Park by the nonprofit housing group Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise (CNE).
The board gave its OK to tax incentives in the form of a 10-year payment in lieu of tax (PILOT) agreement with CNE.
City taxes will be at the predevelopment level of $721 per year, according to CNE, while Hamilton County taxes will be $876 annually. All the school taxes will be paid under the PILOT, officials said.