The Lake Charles City Council unanimously approved three loan agreements Wednesday that will support the construction of affordable housing developments in Lake Charles: Woodring Apartments, Capstone at the Oaks and Calcasieu Heights.

These loans are in tandem with Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds, which are allocated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to financially support municipalities that are in rebuilding periods after presidentially declared disasters.

City officials say the funds will “help facilitate additional attainable housing” throughout Lake Charles.

These developments are part of the city-wide effort to fight housing issues in Lake Charles, which were exacerbated by the weather disasters of 2020 and 2021. Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter said these developments will not only provide housing stock in diverse areas, but will also further disaster recovery efforts.

“Affordable, attainable housing is an important aspect of any community, especially post-disaster,” he told the American Press. “By leveraging these HUD CDBG-DR funds in this manner, the City of Lake Charles will be in a more secure position moving forward to encourage a return of our population. The strategic use of these funds is not only about addressing housing needs, but also providing an impetus for economic activity.”

Woodring Apartments – a new downtown 110 unit multi-family apartment complex for mixed-income families to be built on the 600 block of Bilbo St. – broke ground at the beginning of June, and is being developed by HRI Communities, LLC.

According to a press release from the Louisiana Housing Corporation (LHC), Phase 1 of the project has already received $1.5 million in 9 percent Low Income Housing Tax Credit – generating more than $13 million in equity – and $10 million from CDBG-DR funds. This phase includes the construction of 70 apartments; 49 units will be affordable and workforce housing and 21 will be market-rate units.

The Council approved a loan agreement allocation of $1.3 million in CDBG-DR funds for Phase 2 at the meeting. This phase will include the construction of an additional 40 units.

In total, this is a $35 million project.

Capstone at the Oaks Senior Living is a multifamily development for senior residents 62 or older that will be located at 2401 6th St. It was announced last November as a partnership between the Calcasieu Council on Aging and the Banyan Foundation, a non-profit affordable housing development organization based out of Santa Barbara, Calif.

The development will be one building with 120 units. Sixty-six of these units will be one-bedroom and 54 will be two-bedroom.

The city signed off on a loan agreement of $1.345 million utilizing CDBG-DR funds. The estimated total project cost $27,841,581.

The last housing development is another senior citizen retirement community for those 55 and older. Calcasieu Heights Senior Village will be built on Fitzenreiter Road in North Lake Charles by MGM Development Group, and will include 12 buildings, totalling 72 units: 12 one-bedroom and 60 two-bedrooms.

The Council approved $1.5 million in allocated CDBG-DR funds for Calcasieu Heights.

The estimated development cost is just under $12.6 million.

The city said that the funds paid back to them by the development companies will be put into a segregated account, and will be used to establish a revolving loan fund for future, similar projects, as is mandated by HUD.

At the meeting, the Council also elected the president and vice-president of the 2023-2024 council. President – Mark Eckard, 2022- 2023 council vice-president and District G representative, was unanimously elected president. Craig Marks, District F representative, was unanimously elected vice-president of the council.

They will serve in these roles until July 2024.