Beyond the 9th

Since 2017, the Housing Partnership Fund (HPF) has pioneered the use of New Markets Tax Credits (NMTCs) to subsidize development and sale of single-family homes, making them more affordable to homebuyers with low or moderate incomes. 

Equity raised through the Housing Partnership Network (HPN)’s NMTC allocation provides a flexible subsidy to increase homebuilding, reduce the cost of home buying, and strengthen the local economy. 

HPF made a NMTC investment to boost single-family homeownership among individuals and families of color as part of "Beyond the 9th," a cornerstone initiative of The Housing Partnership, Inc. (HPI), member since 1992. HPI aims to make homeownership less costly than renting and revitalize disinvested neighborhoods west of Louisville’s infamous “9th Street Divide.” The $6 million NMTC allocation is targeted to renovate 60 vacant and expired 9% Low-income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC)-subsidized, scattered-site single-family rental units and convert them into owner-occupied homes. 

In addition to allocating NMTCs, HPF provided a $1.5 million leverage source loan in partnership with the Community Foundation of Louisville. The leverage source loan provides HPI the capital needed to access the NMTC net benefit (subsidy). 

The homes are expected to be completed in 2022 at a total cost of $7.8 million, with the total proposed home sales valued at $6.2 million. The NMTC equity fills the development cost gap, making this project feasible. 

While HPI launched Beyond the 9th in 2016, the need has become even more pressing after the tragic murder of Breonna Taylor and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. HPI, along with partner nonprofits, community organizations and Louisville Metro, have focused significant resources on West Louisville with the aim to address a legacy of historic racism.

HPI is the first nonprofit real estate organization in Louisville, Kentucky to use NMTCs to develop for-sale single-family homes. Beyond the 9th is a multi-year, at-scale initiative to stabilize severely economically distressed and historically redlined West Louisville neighborhoods. It identifies investments that will provide new affordable homeownership opportunities while stabilizing home values of adjacent owner-occupied homes to create blocks or nodes of increased owner-occupancy. 

Impact

The long-term goal of Beyond the 9th is to provide wealth-creating opportunities to predominately black communities and reestablish homeownership in historically redlined neighborhoods, increasing the homeownership rate to an estimated 40% from its current rate of 24% in many years. The homes will be sold at an average price of $103,000, in line with the rising market and in keeping with neighborhood revitalization efforts. They will be affordable to households earning between 50-80% of the Area Median Income, with monthly payments ranging from $360 to $628 per month. HPI will also help homebuyers secure down payment assistance.