New face for Park Place?

Several years ago, Park Place Behavioral Healthcare President and CEO Jim Shanks began exploring ways to build more permanent housing for the nonprofit agency’s clients.

“I was even looking at converting shipping containers into housing units,” he said. “I realized that I was trying to do some kind of development project and was totally over my head.”

That’s when developer Birdsong Housing Partners approached Shanks and pitched a project to build 30 units on 1.25 acres Park Place already owns, he said.

The company told Shanks that Park Place could qualify for a zerointerest loan through the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, created by the state Legislature in the 1970s to increase access to affordable housing for residents.

Although Shanks initially shied away from getting the nonprofit into the development game, Park Place forged a partnership with Birdsong to “co-develop” the apartments.

“This is a project we wanted to do but didn’t know how to do, and then Birdsong stepped in,” he said.

Park Place provided financial records and other data for the application, and Birdsong is working on getting the loan approved by the state’s financing corporation based in Tallahassee, according to Shanks.

Created by Florida Legislature in the 1970s, the Florida Housing Finance Corporation sponsors loans for development projects throughout the state. There are different requirements for its different programs.

Park Place and Birdsong are applying for a $7.5 million loan, and its application fits the criteria for mid-sized counties, according to Shanks. But that doesn’t guarantee approval from the state.

There’s huge competition for Florida’s zero-interest loan program for affordable housing development projects. The state typically defers repayment of the loans for years and provides tax credits to the companies that orchestrate the public-private financing deals and manage the build.

Many local government officials – in Osceola County and throughout the state – call the deals win-wins and say developers need financial incentives to build affordable apartment units because they typically result in lower profit margins than luxury units.

There’s a good chance the Park Place-Birdsong application will be a top contender considering Birdsong’s CEO Steven Auger used to head the Florida Housing Finance Corporation. A former social worker, Auger was there for 16 years before going to work in the private sector with Birdsong.

Shanks said the state would decide next week if the project moves on to the next phase of the loan approval process. He said final approval would not come until July, and that if it does, Park Place and Birdsong hope to break ground next April.

Osceola County and the city of Kissimmee have pledged a total of about $1 million to make the affordable housing development more viable.

The apartments will be available to active clients at Park Place, which treats people with mental health issues and substance abuse problems. Right now, about 11,000 people get services at the facility in north Kissimmee. It offers a 28- day, in-house drug rehabilitation program and intensive outpatient programs. Park Place is also a receiving center for people arrested under the Baker Act and the Marchman Act, which require mandatory three-day psychiatric evaluations.

“Our case managers tell us (housing) is one the biggest issues when dealing with our clients, just finding them a place to live can be next to impossible. There are transitional programs but this would be permanent, long-term housing, Shanks said.

Park Place would have an office on-site and provide transportation for residents to and from their appointments at Park Place, he said.