The Lincoln Apartments, Indianapolis’ first permanent supportive housing for homeless veterans opened today on the site of a former iron foundry brownfield remediated by the City. The fully furnished apartments are located at 530 Holmes Avenue and will serve 75 formerly homeless veterans. Today’s ribbon cutting falls on the 150th anniversary of President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.
The project is within a mile from the Roudebush VA Medical Center and adjacent to a community health center. The City of Indianapolis donated the land for this project after remediating environmental problems by utilizing grants from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the State’s brownfield program.
“I am pleased that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was able to help clean up this former foundry site — to get it ready to build these terrific apartments for veterans,” said EPA Region 5 Administrator Susan Hedman. “EPA Brownfield grants, like the one used for the Lincoln Apartments, have been used by hundreds of cities and towns throughout the country to revitalize their communities.”
The City also allocated $500,000 of HOME funds from HUD. The Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis made an Affordable Housing Program Award of $500,000 through their member bank, the National Bank of Indianapolis, who is also the construction lender.
“The Lincoln Apartments are the most recent addition to Indianapolis’ list of successful public private partnerships,” Mayor Ballard said. “This project represents the expansive neighborhood revitalization and clean-up effort that is happening all across the City. I am thankful for everyone involved for their work to honor our homeless military veterans with this project.”
The development was made possible by a number of public and private partners including the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA), which allocated the federal Rental Housing Tax Credits and also provided an additional $300,000 grant from the Indiana Affordable Housing and Community Development Fund to finance the project. Great Lakes Capital Fund (GLCF) syndicated the purchase of the tax credits, providing over $10 million in equity for Lincoln Apartments.
“Great Lakes Capital Fund is humbled to pay tribute to those who have served through the dedication of this beautiful home for Veterans,” President and CEO of GLCF, Mark McDaniel said. “There is still plenty of work to be done in making sure Veterans can enjoy the freedoms they fought and sacrificed so much for; but, today we recognize and celebrate Lincoln Apartments with residents, partners, and the entire Indianapolis community.”
Research has shown that supportive housing has positive effects on housing stability, employment and mental and physical health. People in supportive housing live more stable and productive lives. Additionally, further evidence shows that supportive housing benefits communities by improving the safety of neighborhoods, beautifying city blocks with new or rehabilitated properties, and increasing or stabilizing property values over time.
“As Indiana’s second permanent supportive housing development directly serving our Veterans, I congratulate the public and private collaboration and community efforts that came together to establish the Lincoln Apartments for the Indianapolis community,” said Lt. Governor Sue Ellspermann, who chairs the IHCDA board. “It is our goal to find solutions for providing safe and stable housing that is available to all residents, especially our Hoosier Veterans who have given so much to our country.”
