KLF’s Callahan Flats uses multiple THDA funding sources to build new affordable housing in Knoxville
Like many cities its size, Knoxville is facing a crisis when it comes to the availability of affordable housing due to supply constraints and rapidly rising rents. With incomes not growing at the same rate, many organizations – including the Knoxville Leadership Foundation – are working to alleviate those issues by increasing the number of units that rent below market rate.
KLF’s development Callahan Flats was built in North Knoxville with the help of funding from THDA to provide more options for low-income families and individuals that need a safe and affordable place to live.
“This is an issue impacting a lot of places, so we’re not unique in that way, but that still means it’s a very real issue for us in the area,” Martin said. “Callahan Flats will be a mixture of permanent supportive housing units and regular affordable units.”
The 88-unit complex was built through KLF’s subsidiary Southeastern Housing Foundation, using multiple for sources of funding from THDA – including tax credits, tax-exempt bonds, Tennessee Housing Trust Fund grants and National Housing Trust Fund grants – to ensure the project could be built in an affordable manner.
“Without THDA, Callahan Flats wouldn’t have been possible,” Martin said. “As a nonprofit developer in this space our single focus is our mission, and that’s to provide affordable units for Knoxvillians, so because of that we have to bring down our debt load as much as possible and that’s what really makes something like this work over the long haul.”
Martin said the Callahan Flats development is also part of KLF’s efforts to change the perception of what affordable housing looks like in Knoxville.
“These places are really nice and are something anyone would be proud to live in,” Martin said. “That’s a value at KLF we’ve always had when it comes to affordable housing, we try not to short change the project and put the bare minimum into the apartments, whether it’s the new apartments we build or ones we renovate.”
Martin said Callahan Flats is the fifth development that KLF has used THDA funding sources to complete in the Knoxville are and that more are planned for the future.
“We’ve got four other properties that amount to 158 units total and THDA has been involved with them in some aspect,” Martin said. “THDA really has been great to work with.”
