Development Recognized by Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition with Honorable Mention at 24th Annual Charles L. Edson Tax Credit Excellence Awards in Washington, D.C.

CHAMBLEE, Ga. – Senior Residences at Mercy Park, a 79-apartment affordable senior housing community just outside of Atlanta, received honorable mention in the Senior Housing category at the 24th annual Charles L. Edson Tax Credit Excellence Awards today, in Washington, D.C.

The Edson Awards take place each year on Capitol Hill, bringing together members of Congress, business and nonprofit leaders to honor Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (Housing Credit) developments that are strengthening communities, improving health and boosting the economy in urban, suburban and rural areas nationwide. This is the second consecutive year that Mercy Housing Southeast has been honored with this prestigious award, with its Reynoldstown community being honored in 2017.

“We convene each year to shine a spotlight on excellence in the affordable housing industry,” said Michael Gaber, President of the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition. “The Edson Awards honor the developments that take every opportunity to make innovative use of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit as a tool for public and private collaboration, investment and community revitalization.”

The Housing Credit is America’s and Georgia’s main tool for creating and preserving affordable rental housing. Since it was signed into law by President Reagan in 1986, the Housing Credit has financed three million homes across the country, including 152,673 in Georgia, which has provided a stable foundation of opportunity to 355,728 families. Statewide, the Housing Credit has created 172,520 jobs, generated $16.44 billion in income, and $6.47 billion in tax revenues, which has been reinvested across Georgia. 

“The Edson Awards honor developments that harness the Housing Credit to strengthen America’s communities and provide homes that transform the lives of low-income families, veterans, seniors and people with special needs,” said Emily Cadik, Executive Director of the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition. “The winners honored today exemplify why the Housing Credit is smart policy, and why Congress should expand and strengthen this proven tool.”

“As a longtime supporter of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, I commend the public and private partnerships that come together to provide affordable senior housing options to allow more of our seniors to age in place,” said U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga. “I congratulate Senior Residences at Mercy Park on earning this national recognition and appreciate their efforts to combine housing for seniors with the critical services they need.”

“We are honored to have the Senior Residences at Mercy Park receive such a prestigious and nationally recognized award,” said James Alexander, President of Mercy Housing Southeast. “This development helps to answer Greater Atlanta’s need for affordable senior housing with convenient access to critical services like Healthcare and Transportation. The Low Incoming Housing Tax Credit was essential to its construction.”

The Senior Residents at Mercy Park is located less than two blocks from the Chamblee MARTA station and integrates a 40,000 square-foot health clinic, providing adult and pediatric primary care along with mental health and dental services. The four-acre affordable development includes 79 residences for seniors earning at or below 30-60 percent of Area Median Income (AMI). Ten percent of the units are reserved for veterans (via the AHP program) and ten percent for seniors with disabilities.

About the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition

Founded in 1988, AHTCC is a trade organization of housing professionals who advocate for affordable rental housing financed using the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (Housing Credit).  Our for-profit and non-profit members—including syndicators, investors, lenders, developers, legal and accounting professionals and state allocating agencies—seek to preserve, expand and improve the Housing Credit and complementary programs through legislative outreach and education. The Coalition, a nonprofit corporation chartered under the laws of the District of Columbia, is governed by an elected Board of Directors.

Please visit www.taxcreditcoailtion.org for more information about the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition.

About the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit 

The Housing Credit was created as part of the Tax Reform Act of 1986, and today is widely regarded as the nation’s most successful housing production program. The Housing Credit has financed more than 3 million affordable apartments through public-private partnerships, and supports 96,000 jobs each year, mostly in the small-business sector. It has earned strong bipartisan support, and was recently preserved in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, and expanded and strengthened in the omnibus spending bill for fiscal year 2018. The broadly-supported Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act would further expand and strengthen the program.

About the Charles L. Edson Tax Credit Excellence Awards

Given annually by the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition, The Edson Awards are named for Charles L. Edson, an affordable housing luminary who was Transition Director for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on President Carter’s Transition Staff. Mr. Edson served in the Office of the General Counsel at HUD and served as Co-Editor-in-Chief of Housing and Development Reporter for nearly 40 years. He is a founding partner of the law firm Lane and Edson, and was later a partner of Nixon Peabody LLP. 

About Mercy Housing Southeast: Mercy Housing Southeast (MHSE) is the youngest regional office of Mercy Housing Inc., the nation’s largest, non-profit affordable housing organization. It creates stable, vibrant and healthy communities by developing, financing and operating affordable, program-enriched housing for families, seniors and people with special needs who lack the economic resources to access quality, safe housing opportunities. Headquartered in Atlanta, MHSE serves communities in Georgia, Ohio, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina. It has developed or preserved 44 projects delivering more than 3,900 affordable rental homes for over 8,000 people since 1996. More than two-thirds of its portfolio is in Georgia, with 1,254 homes in metro Atlanta.