Three affordable housing projects proposed in Des Moines have been awarded federal housing tax credits to support the construction of new rental homes, the Iowa Finance Authority Board announced this week.

In all, 10 projects in Iowa received over $9.5 million in awards from the Federal Housing Tax Credit program. Each year, the Internal Revenue Service makes a per capita allocation of federal tax credits to each state to use for housing. The Iowa Finance Authority allocates the credits to affordable housing developers, who in turn sell the credits to investors to generate equity for their projects.

The state agency received 23 applications requesting over $27 million in housing tax credits in the 2025 tax credit round. IFA had a total of approximately $9.8 million available to allocate. The actual awards total nearly $95 million because the credits are committed annually for a 10-year period.

In addition to the housing tax credits, the state agency awarded $2.5 million in HOME program funds and $1.5 million from the National Housing Trust Fund.

The Des Moines projects that received awards include:

• Goldfinch Lofts, planned at 3404 Ingersoll Ave. The project, which will include 28 low-income units, received $1 million in federal tax credits and $500,000 from the state HOME program. The three-story project will be built with mass timber, a product that captures carbon by taking it out of the atmosphere. Construction of the $12.35 million project is expected to be completed in the second half of 2026. Cutler Development is the project’s developer.
• Foundry Lofts, planned at 509 S.E. Sixth St. The project, which will include 46 low-income units, received $1.3 million in federal tax credits; $1 million from the National Housing Trust Fund; and $500,000 in HOME funds. The four-story building is planned on a lot that previously was home of Electric Motor Corp. The proposed development by Gratus Development LLC and Christensen Development LLC is estimated to cost $15 million.
• Townhall Food Hall and Apartments, planned at 1609 Sixth Ave. The project, which will include 29 low-income units, received $94,037 in federal tax credits. The $12.5 million project includes the construction of a three-story building at 1605-1619 Sixth Ave. and 515 College Ave. and the historic renovation of the North Des Moines Town Hall at 1601 Sixth Ave. The new building is proposed to include a food hall with three culinary experience bays, private event space and apartments. The project’s developers are Kuuku Saah, a partner in Ntontan Real Estate, and Frank Levy, president of Newbury Living. To see a completed list of Iowa projects awarded federal housing tax credits, click here.