Tribal college students and their young families will have more options for housing, thanks to the Little Priest Tribal College’s much-anticipated award of 2015 Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTCs) at the Nebraska Investment Finance Authority’s (NIFA) February board meeting. Little Priest Tribal College (LPTC) is the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska’s higher education institution. LPTC will build a 27-unit apartment building to accommodate families at the LPTC Residential Complex.
The project received funding under NIFA’s Collaborative Resource Allocation for Nebraska (CRANE) program, a strategic allocation process encouraging the development of affordable housing in conjunction with long-term job creation/enhancement and community development. The project involves multiple stakeholders that have collaborated to determine how best to fit the current housing needs of the community.
LPTC Residential Complex will be part of a larger community development effort known as Ho-Chunk Village. This $20 million mixed-use development incorporates housing, commercial, and retail space along with green areas, sidewalks and paths to foster an environment of walkability. Lance Morgan, president and CEO of Ho-Chunk Inc. and also an advisory board member for Travois New Markets, is spearheading this effort to make housing and jobs more accessible, with the goal of encouraging younger members of the Winnebago Tribe to remain in the community.
Travois is honored to have been a part of developing and securing financing for LPTC Residential Complex. This is our second project working with the Winnebago Tribe but our first housing project together, and we hope for many more housing collaborations with the Winnebago community and other Native organizations in the state of Nebraska.
Upon completion, the project will immediately and significantly reduce the local waiting lists (currently estimated at 102 households). Marisa Cummings, director of public relations, institutional advancement, and government relations for LPTC, said it best: “This will be such a great asset to the college and community in Winnebago!”