Two of eight affordable-housing projects in the running statewide for Montana Board of Housing tax credits are in Kalispell.

Housing Solutions of Missoula is one of the finalists for its Creekside Commons project that would build 42 apartments in a single complex for seniors 55 and older. The apartment complex would be built at 110 Financial Drive near the Gateway Community Center.

Housing Solutions developer Alex Burkhalter presented the proposal to the Flathead County commissioners this week, asking for a letter of support for Creekside Commons. The commissioners indicated they would consider such a letter but didn’t take formal action.

The company has built a couple of affordable-housing complexes in Kalispell, including the Depot Place senior-housing apartments at the intersection of Center Street and Third Avenue East, and the Spring Creek family apartments on Appleway Drive.

The other local finalist is Community Action Partnership, which is in the running for a second time for a major renovation of its Courtyard Apartments on Airport Road in Kalispell. The project is valued at $4.8 million and would renovate 32 apartments by install new windows, staircases, energy-efficient appliances and roofing.

The Courtyard Apartments were built in 1995 as a partnership between the city of Kalispell and the nonprofit Community Action Partnership. It serves a mix of residents who meet the low-income threshold.

The upgrades would include the addition of a community room and laundry facility, plus space for maintenance offices, according to Marney McCleary, housing director for Community Action Partnership.

The county commissioners recently wrote a letter of support for the Courtyard Apartments project.

Housing tax credits are the primary funding source for affordable housing development across the United States. The Montana Board of Housing can fund the construction or rehabilitation of approximately 200 rental units each year. This creates more than 485 jobs, more than $20.6 million in local wages, and more than $2 million in new taxes and revenues for local governments, according to the Board of Housing.

The need is greater than the number of tax credits awarded, however. In this funding cycle, housing developers in 18 Montana communities requested funding for more than 575 units.

“Housing tax credits are the cornerstone financing piece,” Burkhalter said. “The [Creekside Commons] project is contingent on getting those tax credits.”

Burkhalter said Housing Solutions turned in letters of intent to the Board of Housing for two other Flathead Valley projects — one in Evergreen and the other in Columbia Falls — but those applications didn’t move forward.

Developers will be notified in November if they are awarded the tax credits.

“We would hope to break ground in the spring,” Burkhalter said about Creekside Commons. He added that Housing Solutions would be involved in the long-term ownership of the housing complex.

McCleary said Community Action Partnership is vying for the 9 percent tax credit available for facilities that need substantial rehabilitation.

“That’s the only kind of financing structure that works for Courtyard,” she said.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.