ECOnorthwest contracted with Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) to study the opportunities and constraints of collocating LIHTC affordable housing with Early Childhood Education (ECE) facilities and to assist in the design of a funding program to support co-location. With a capital commitment of $10 million, the project team conducted the following:
- The impact of prevailing wage law on colocation
- Capacity of ECE providers
- Case studies of projects that have successfully co-located ECE space with affordable housing
- Financing gaps associated with providing co-located space
- Funding mechanisms that could incentivize co-location
- Design, management, and eligible uses of the funds
- Considerations for the Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP) process and scoring criteria
The final report recommended to OHCS the best uses of the $10 million capital commitment and provided a pathway to implementation of a co-location fund, which included partnering with a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) to manage the day-to-day operations. It also included additional sources to help capitalize the fund beyond the $10 million. OHCS issued an RFP in February 2023 to solicit a CDFI to manage the co-location fund. In July 2023, OHCS entered into a grant agreement with Craft3 and three other Community Development Financial Institutions—Low Income Investment Fund, Micro Enterprise Services of Oregon, and Network for Oregon Affordable Housing—to leverage existing best practices and develop and test new models to address the challenge of co-location.
