Developer Halts Flagstaff Multi-site Affordable Project

By Adrian Skabelund for Arizona Daily Sun
Three affordable housing projects that would have been completed this year have been mothballed after the city’s developer encountered delays.
The projects had planned to provide the city with as many as 74 affordable rental units in three locations across Flagstaff and would have been built by Brinshore Development.
But after the Flagstaff City Council approved the projects, Brinshore encountered a number of challenges that delayed and eventually ended the project, said city housing manager Justyna Costa.
One of the challenges was the cost of building in Flagstaff, which was higher than they first expected. This created a funding gap between $1-2M.
The company asked the council for additional funding from the city to cover the gap, but that was denied, although Brinshore was eventually able to find the additional dollars needed.
However, during that delay, the lender and investment partners decided they could no longer support the project. Tax credits Brinshore received for the project required its completion by the end of 2020, and the investors no longer believed the project could be completed in that time.
Additionally, Costa said Brinshore’s lender raised concerns regarding the contractor the company hired to build the developments, saying the contractor did not meet its standards.
Read more at Arizona Daily Sun.