McDowell closes $38.9M construction loan on Pasco affordable phase

McDowell Housing Partners has closed the construction loan and started work on Ekos at Bayonet Point II, a 120-unit age-restricted affordable project in Hudson, Fla. The $38.9 million phase is the second of three planned on the site. The full master plan calls for 360 affordable homes in Pasco County.

Connect CRE reports the financing combines tax-exempt bonds from the Florida Housing Finance Corp. with 4% housing tax credits. FHFC layered in subordinate debt through three of its programs: SAIL, ELI, and HOME-ARP. Wells Fargo Community Lending & Investment bought the credits and originated the senior construction loan. Freddie Mac will provide the permanent mortgage, with Wells Fargo Multifamily Capital servicing it.

Rents and incomes are restricted to three tiers of area median income. The project is at 7526 McDowell Way. It sits one block from HCA Florida Bayonet Point Hospital. Delivery is scheduled for spring 2028. Amenities include a clubhouse with a pool, a fitness center, a computer lab, and a dog park.

With Freddie Mac's takeout commitment in place, the construction lender's job narrows to execution risk—whether the building is delivered on time and on budget. Affordable construction loans carry more moving parts than conventional multifamily deals, and Wells Fargo is on both sides of this one: it bought the tax-credit equity and placed the senior construction loan. Public capital is carrying much of this phase. FHFC's subordinate programs sit below the bank debt, and the tax-credit equity, already sold to Wells Fargo, gives the loan a cushion market-rate projects typically lack.

Affordable housing construction increasingly relies on layered subsidies. In this phase, four FHFC programs—bonds plus SAIL, ELI, and HOME-ARP subordinate loans—combine with the LIHTC allocation to close the gap between attainable rents and construction costs. Each layer adds compliance and underwriting complexity, and the stack, taken together, is what makes the phase feasible. The completed community will hold 360 affordable homes. This phase contributes 120 age-restricted units to Pasco County's stock. Wells Fargo, in the middle, supplied the construction debt and bought the tax-credit equity. The other layers came from state and federal programs.