CHN Housing Partners (CHN) and Enterprise Community Partners (Enterprise) announce the closing of their 50th Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) deal together, a 40-year partnership that has created or preserved more than 3,500 affordable homes for low-income residents and represents more than $295 million in LIHTC equity investments across Ohio. The deal, Hope Homes I, a 30-unit new single-family affordable housing development in Cleveland, will be part of CHN’s Lease Purchase Program.
Hope Homes I will be constructed across three proximate neighborhoods on Cleveland’s east side: nine in Buckeye-Shaker Square, 12 in Mount Pleasant, and nine in Lee-Harvard. Each home will offer three bedrooms with two full bathrooms, a garage with space for one car, and a covered front porch. Twenty-six homes will be two-story constructions with a basement and detached garage; the remaining four will be fully accessible single-story homes with attached garages.
The Lease Purchase Program is an innovative, nationally recognized 15-year path to homeownership. Through the program, residents lease their home for 15 years while undergoing homeowner preparation with CHN’s HUD-certified counselors. They are then able to purchase the homes below market from CHN. Since 1987, more than 1,800 families in Northeast Ohio have become homeowners through this program.
“We are incredibly grateful for Enterprise’s continued partnership and their support and investment in affordable housing. The 3,500 homes we’ve built together have changed countless lives in our community,” said Kevin Nowak, CEO of CHN. “We’re very proud of this partnership and the enormous impact we have made together.”
Enterprise’s housing credit investments business contributed $9.4 million in LIHTC equity to Hope Homes I; additional funding was provided by the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, HOME funds from the City of Cleveland, and a loan from Fifth Third Bank.
“CHN has been an invaluable partner for decades. We’re excited to support Hope Homes I, which makes innovative use of LIHTC equity to advance our shared goal: the upward mobility of Cleveland’s families,” said Kari Downes, president of Enterprise’s housing credit investments business. “This milestone is a testament to CHN’s impact—and to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, our most effective tool for creating and preserving affordable housing.”
Beyond affordable housing development, Enterprise and CHN collaborate on several critical initiatives in Cleveland, including ending homelessness through the Housing First Initiative in Cuyahoga County; the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Coalition; the development of the Cleveland Lead Safe Home Fund, the County Housing Stakeholder Group; and the Make It Home Cleveland program, an initiative that aims to turn renters of tax-forfeited properties into homeowners for a nominal acquisition fee. These partnerships connect capital to communities, providing economic opportunities and stability to those who need them most.
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About CHN Housing Partners
Founded in 1981, CHN Housing Partners is a large-scale affordable housing developer, housing service provider, and residential lender that works with its partners to solve major housing challenges for low-income people and underserved communities in Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. CHN partners with utility companies, financial institutions, and public agencies to manage and deliver large-scale housing resources. CHN also partners with people—low-income individuals, families, seniors, people with disabilities, and people experiencing homelessness—to improve their housing stability. CHN’s impact in Cleveland includes 3,200 new homeowners, the housing stability services it provides annually to more than 60,000 individuals, and the development of 7,100 new homes. CHN is a chartered member of the NeighborWorks America network.
About Enterprise Housing Credit Investments
Enterprise’s housing credit investments business operates under Enterprise Housing Credit Investments, an affiliate of Enterprise Community Partners, a national nonprofit that exists to make a good home possible for the millions of families without one. We support community development organizations on the ground, aggregate and invest capital for impact, advance housing policy at every level of government, and build and manage communities ourselves. Since 1982, we have invested $72 billion and created 1 million homes across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands—all to make home and community places of pride, power and belonging.