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News / Politics / Clark County Politics

Apartment projects apply for Vancouver tax exemptions

Program encourages housing in strategic, convenient locations

By Amy Fischer, Columbian City Government Reporter
Published: January 4, 2016, 9:34pm

Three proposed downtown Vancouver apartment projects have applied for eight- and 12-year property tax exemptions under a city program aimed at spurring housing development near work, shopping, entertainment and bus service.

At a time when rental housing is in critically short supply and rising rents have squeezed many people out of their homes, the projects will add another 132 units to the market, some of which will be affordable housing.

“We’ve had a lot of interest in multi-family projects in our community, and part of the reason is our vacancy rates are still below 2 percent,” said Peggy Sheehan, the city’s program manager for Community and Economic Development.

Here are the proposed projects:

• WDC Construction’s three-story, 19,000-square foot apartment building at Broadway and 19th Street will cost an estimated $3.2 million. Proposed rents for the 36 units range from $850 for a studio to $1,200 for a live/work two-bedroom unit, which has both an office and a living space. Because 20 percent of the units will be affordable housing, the project qualifies for a 12-year tax exemption.

• WDC Construction’s 32,500-square-foot apartment building at 500 E. 15th St. will cost an estimated $4.2 million. Proposed rents for the 48 units range from $800 for a live/work one-bedroom to $1,275 for a two-bedroom unit. The project qualifies for a 12-year tax exemption.

• Prestige Development’s five-story, 84,788-square-foot building, called “Our Heroes Place,” at 409 E. Mill Plain Blvd. and 412 E. 13th St., will cost an estimated $11.6 million. Proposed rents for the 48 units range from $1,000 for a studio to $1,650 for a one-bedroom unit. Proposed sales prices range from $200,000-plus for a one-bedroom condominium to $1.1 million for a penthouse. The building will contain 3,448 square feet of commercial space. Because the project does not include affordable housing, it qualifies for an eight-year tax exemption rather than 12 years.

To be eligible for a 12-year exemption, 20 percent of the development’s units must be affordable housing. The affordable housing must be rented or sold to people who earn less than 115 percent of the area’s median income. That figure would amount to $59,225 annually for a single person or $84,525 for a family of four.

The eight-year exemption doesn’t require affordable housing.

Both tax exemptions are available only for developments in the downtown and Fourth Plain corridor areas. The program requires construction to be finished within three years of tax exemption approval. The land’s value is taxed as usual, as well as any other new construction associated with the project, and the development generates utility taxes and sales tax from construction.

Since the city implemented the Multi-Family Tax Exemption Program in 1997, 11 developments have been built or approved under the program, bulking up the housing stock by more than 1,100 units. Including the three new apartment buildings, four of the 14 total projects offer at least 20 percent of their units to low-to-moderate income tenants.

Tax exemptions on some of the projects, such as Heritage Place, Vancouvercenter and Uptown Village, have recently expired, and now they are paying full property taxes. Prestige Plaza and the 15 West Apartment project (under construction) received 12-year exemptions.

Monday, city councilors noted that many of the projects wouldn’t have been built at all without the tax credit. “It doesn’t pencil out at the front, or they wouldn’t be doing this,” Councilor Jack Burkman said.

The city council will consider the tax exemption agreements following a public hearing Jan. 25.

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Columbian City Government Reporter