Jackson Free Press

Midtown Partners Inc. made a plan—and they're sticking to it.

Namely, Midtown Partners, which promotes social and economic revitalization in the neighborhood just north of downtown, developed a master plan in 2010 that calls for expansion of services, parks and housing.

On Dec. 18, one of the features of that plan was scratched off the list so-to-speak with a groundbreaking for a development called West-Millsaps Homes.

Dr. Kristi Hendrix, the executive director of Midtown Partners, said plans call for 31 single-family units, some of which will consists of both rehabilitated and nine newly constructed homes. Construction crews recently completed interior demolition for the rehabs.

The project represents a total investment of $9.7 million and will take nine to 10 months to complete, Hendrix said.

In her remarks at the groundbreaking, Ward 7 Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon referenced a 2004 story in the Jackson Free Press that discussed the potential for Midtown just as revitalization efforts there got started in earnest.

"That was just the beginning; now it's a dream come true," Barrett-Simon said at the groundbreaking.

Making that dream a reality is a host of organizations and financial institutions, including Baptist Hospital, which provided some seed funding to acquire some of the lots needed for development. The New Orleans-based Gulf Coast Housing Partnership is the developer on the project that will use Housing Tax Credits from the Mississippi Home Corporation. Investors apply the credits to their federal tax bill each year for a decade. Currently, there are six developments in Hinds County using tax credits, including the West-Millsaps Homes.

Tenants will have to meet strict income eligibility guidelines. Most tax-credit developments are for working-class people, who lease the market-rate homes for reduced monthly payments. The goal is to provide stable homes and neighborhoods for families and children.

Bill Bynum, chief executive officer for Hope Enterprise Corporation/Hope Credit Union, which will finance the Midtown development, pointed to research about the positive impact that stable, affordable housing can have on learning.

"Nothing transforms a community like affordable housing," Bynum said.

In November 2014, the Washington, D.C.-based National Housing Conference issued a report titled "The Impacts of Affordable Housing on Education: A Research Summary" showing that affordable housing can improve educational outcomes for children.

"Wherever the location, the physical quality of the home and the household's capacity to afford a stable, suitable living environment can affect student educational outcomes," the report's authors write.

Supporters of the Midtown housing development see it as part of a holistic effort. Midtown Partners also recently won approval from the Mississippi Charter School Authorizing Board to open what would be the second charter school in the capital city, for students in grades 5 through 8.

Midtown Partners' school would join  Reimagine Prep in south Jackson, which plans to open for fall 2015 and would also serve grades 5 to 8.