Patuxent Commons Receives $1.6 Million Housing Trust Fund Award

Howard County Grant Will Fund Mixed Income Community for All Abilities and Ages

COLUMBIA, MD, UNITED STATES, October 20, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ — Media Contacts:
Autism Society of Maryland
Mark Dunham
[email protected]
202-277-1894

Mission First Housing Group

Becky Lang Staffieri

[email protected]

215-651-4858

Howard County Executive Dr. Calvin Ball has announced a $1.6 million grant to Patuxent Commons, an innovative housing development conceived by the Autism Society of Maryland (AUSOM) and being developed by Mission First Housing Group. The project will provide deeply affordable housing for people with disabilities, and a mix of affordable and market rate units that will target older adults and families.

The award, one of the first made through the new Howard County Housing Trust Fund, was announced at a Housing Rally in Columbia attended by Maryland Secretary of Housing and Community Development Jake Day, other public officials, and community advocates. In making the announcement, Dr. Ball said, “Patuxent Commons is a visionary affordable housing project that will include 25 percent of its units set aside for persons with disabilities, insuring that we are growing inclusively together.”

The 76-unit project will be located in Columbia’s Hickory Ridge neighborhood at a site with access to public transit and walkable amenities. Based on a concept developed by AUSOM to help meet the housing needs of adults with Autism and other disabilities, the project is also being designed to reduce social isolation and increase community inclusion by encouraging relationship-building among neighbors of different abilities and ages. Its developer and the recipient of the award, Mission First, is an award-winning, non-profit affordable housing developer of over 3,500 apartments throughout the mid-Atlantic.

“AUSOM is grateful to County Executive Ball and the people of Howard County for their consistent, generous support for Patuxent Commons,” said AUSOM Executive Director Melissa Rosenberg. “Their support, along with the committed efforts of Mission First, have been essential to bringing our vision for this community to life.”

Mission First Managing Director Sarah Constant said, “Projects like Patuxent Commons require a range of funding sources to be developed. The Housing Trust Fund award is the latest example of the critical role that County support has played in this initiative. With their help, this much-needed project moves even closer toward construction.”

Patuxent Commons is on track to complete the public approvals process, close on its financing and begin construction in early 2024. With the new Housing Trust Fund grant, the Howard County Department of Housing and Community Development has committed a total of $5.8 million toward the $39 million project cost. Patuxent Commons has also attracted major funding from state and federal sources, including a 4 percent low-income housing tax credit, and significant philanthropic support from The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation.

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Mark Dunham
Kindred Strategies
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