Wilmington homeless vets project gets $10 million for housing

A proposal to turn a long-vacant Wilmington nursing home into the state's largest facility for housing homeless veterans has been boosted by millions in funding through a federal tax credit program.

The Delaware Center for Homeless Veterans plans to turn the Layton Home at 300 Eighth St. into the first center in the state contracted by the U.S. government to provide subsidized, permanent housing that specifically targets veterans. Officials initially planned a $5.5 million project, but were recently awarded federal low-income tax credits through the Delaware State Housing Authority that bring the total amount available to more than $10 million. 

David Mosley, founder of the center and a veteran, said the credits will allow his organization to spend $2 million to $3 million more rehabbing the 48,000-square-foot building, which sits largely gutted. 

"When we spoke to people in the know, we realized a project this size was going to take more money than we were thinking," Mosely said. 

The center will get $913,337 in tax credits annually for 10 years, said Susan Eliason, director of Housing Development at DSHA. Credits will be purchased from the center by corporations looking to offset their federal tax burden. Proceeds will be the largest source of funding for the planned center.

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"The original plan called for nothing more than efficiency," Mosley said. "This will allow us to have men, women and families with multiple bedrooms as well as more space for office rooms and training."

The center is working with development firm Ingerman, which has built other low-income housing in the area. Plans are still being finalized, but the Eighth Street building once reworked will feature 51 apartments.

Mosley said the center will house 40 veterans using vouchers from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Other apartments can be rented at market rate, he said. The home will be renamed The Pearl Center.

Mosley said the tax credit money will see The Pearl feature one- and two-bedroom apartments instead of limiting the development to strictly studio apartments as previously planned.

The Pearl will also feature a commercial kitchen where Mosely hopes to eventually offer culinary classes to veterans.The housing credit money will also allow expansion of other services provided at the center, which will be outfitted with several offices and conference rooms.

Mosely said they have plans for a VA social worker to be stationed at the building as well as a social worker from his own organization, a financial literacy agent and some representation from the Veterans Legal Foundation, a non-profit providing legal services to veterans. Mosley is also working to arrange resources from the Department of Labor to add to the services provided at the center.

He envisions The Pearl as being much more than just a roof overhead for a veteran without a home.

"It needs to be a place for both the homeless and those at risk for homelessness," Mosely said. "We want to provide them a foundation to transition back into normal life."

The Pearl is also receiving about $557,000 through DSHA's Downtown Development District program. The City of Wilmington and the Timken Foundation are also providing grant funding.

The Delaware Center for Homeless Veterans started in November 2011 with nine beds in a Haines Avenue building in Wilmington. The organization today has a five-year contract with the federal Department of Veterans Affairs to provide emergency transition housing for 10 veterans to stay up to 90 days in one of two facilities in the city. The organization also houses other veterans through fees and grants from various foundations, Mosley said.

The Homeless Planning Council of Delaware in a study last year found 102 homeless veterans statewide and 49 in New Castle County. The organization also was part of a statewide effort to solve homelessness among veterans, an effort in response to an initiative launched by President Barack Obama in 2014.

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The Pearl project is the first in Delaware to receive federally funded Housing and Urban Development and Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing vouchers tied to a specific housing project.

Typically, the income-based housing subsidies are awarded to veterans to use on a permanent basis at private apartments or homes. Project-based vouchers stay with the housing facility, providing a stream of revenue to fund the building purchase and planned renovations. The vouchers are worth about $260,000 annually.

The vouchers are meant to provide permanent housing. Other facilities, like the Home of the Brave in Middletown and Connections Community Support Programs Inc. in Wilmington, provide medium-term transition housing with federal funding.

Moseley said since the project was first announced in February, interest has ballooned.

"We started talking to people about what we really need to make this something that was really worth having," Mosely said. "We are excited to get it started."

Mosley said construction is on track to start before the end of this year and last nine to 11 months.

Contact Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or xwilson@delawareonline.com. Follow @Ber_Xerxes on Twitter.