Highlands Residential Services Board of Directors learned that the funding gap on the RedBud Village Development will now be covered by a grant.
Highlands Residential Services was left with an estimated $750,000 – $1 million gap after bids for the project came in higher than expected. Highlands Residential Services Executive Director Chris Cassetty said he is expecting to receive notification that they have been awarded a Federal Home Loan Bank Grant.
“Today, certainly no later than tomorrow, we get notification that we are awarded, and that closes all the funding gap for Redbud Village, which is what we have been waiting for,” Cassetty said.
A few months into the project, Cassetty said construction has slowed. Cassetty said delays could have been costly, but he has been impressed with how W&O Construction has handled the project.
“I think they realize that we have got a lot of work in the pipeline, and they are very interested in that work,” Cassetty said. “Sometimes you lose a nickel here to gain a dime or a quarter somewhere else, and so again, they seem to be good folks to this point.”
Cassetty said he had a meeting with W&O Construction on Monday, and fully expects them to be full steam ahead again on the project starting December 1. Cassetty said he looks forward to seeing significant progress on the project. RedBud Village is a 20-unit homeless housing development located on Buffalo Valley Road in Cookeville.
Cassetty also gave the board a brief update on the Magnolia Ridge Development. Magnolia Ridge has narrowly missed tax credit funding from THDA for the past two years. Cassetty said they are still working with THDA on ways to get Magnolia Ridge to the top of the funding heat for the next tax credit round.
“We are gonna continue to do those things and continue to work on that,” Cassetty said. “We will be successful eventually. And they are committed to helping us. Always have been, and they have done a good job for us.”
