Two more Encore housing projects acquire funding

By KATHY STEELE | The Tampa Tribune Published: June 27, 2012 Updated: June 27, 2012 - 12:00 AM

Two more apartment buildings planned at the Encore site northeast of downtown are fully funded with construction scheduled to begin by the end of this year, Tampa Housing Authority officials say.

Funding for The Trio, a $26 million multifamily apartment building, fell into place recently with approval of more than $8 million in bonds provided through the Housing Finance Authority of Hillsborough County. A funding agreement for The Reed, a $29 million senior apartment building, was reached in recent weeks with a closing anticipated in October.

Money for the two buildings and The Ella, a third apartment building now under construction, has come from federal, state and local sources, including federal stimulus grants, tax credits and bond financing.

The Ella, intended for seniors, is expected to have its first tenants in November. It will be the first completed building of a nearly $450 million urban community planned on the former site of the Central Park Village public housing apartments. Encore will have apartments, shops, a hotel and a black-history museum.

Central Park was torn down nearly five years ago and its nearly 1,300 tenants moved elsewhere. The 28 acres are bordered by Nebraska Avenue, Cass Street and Interstate 4.

In December the housing authority will learn if the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will award the agency as much as $30 million to help pay for more construction at the Encore site.

With or without that grant, The Trio and The Reed are headed for groundbreakings, said Leroy Moore, the housing authority's chief operating officer.

The Trio likely will be first, with a construction start by early September and a planned 12-month completion schedule; The Reed would follow sometime after October and take about 18 months to complete.

A statewide court decision regarding how tax dollars are spent in designated areas of blight, along with the poor economy, at times delayed the project. So far, no retail development or hotel construction has been announced.

Read more:
Two more Encore housing projects acquire funding