Oklahoma City council - August 1, 2023

 

Arizona nonprofit tied to developer, same-name companies 

TIF  Tax Increment Financing agreements

With nebulous nonprofit proposed to provide services, Bricktown apartments’ TIF vote looms

By Matt Patterson -

 Monday, August 14, 2023 

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As the OKC City Council prepares for a final vote Tuesday on what could become one of Oklahoma City’s largest tax increment financing agreements — a $736 million housing, hotel and retail development — the project’s “financial advisor” says questions about the role of an Arizona nonprofit she helps run are misplaced.

Proposed within the Boardwalk project are 132 rent-subsidized units. Those units would be managed by Aspiring Anew Generation Incorporated, an Arizona nonprofit with connections to Matteson Capital. The organization offers health and housing services, and it operates a clothing bank, childcare programs and workforce programs, according to its website.

“At, Aspiring Anew Generation, we believe that people like plants will thrive in the right soil,” the website states. “Just like a plant that is struggling in one location transplanting it to more suitable conditions will allow the plant to thrive. Helping adults deal with addiction, mental health, homelessness and low income status understand they matter and allowing them to see their full potential (sic)”

In OKC, the organization would manage the rent-subsidized units, operate a workforce training center, offer addiction counseling and provide financial literary assistance to those housed in the units, according to Joanne Carras, a “financial advisor” to Matteson Capital who also serves on the board of Aspiring Anew Generation and as its CFO.

During her presentation to the OKC Council on Aug. 1, Carras referred to Scot Matteson as both the project’s “developer” and as a “philanthropic partner” for Aspiring Anew Generation Incorporated. She said the proposal’s benchmark of $1,800 per month for the 132 subsidized Boardwalk apartments is based on federal housing data and is higher than the rates likely to be offered to those entering the nonprofit’s program.

“I’ve been [Matteson’s] financial advisor on this project, but somewhere in the process — because we’ve been working together for years — I became an officer of this nonprofit, another passion of mine,” Carras said. “It’s not often where you see this inclusivity where you’re helping people. The rent could be zero (for the subsidized units). But we’ve agreed — again, no obligation, but we’re voluntary agreeing, and I know our funding is going to trigger the rent — we will not exceed the HUD low-to-moderate-income AMI.”

Aspiring Anew Generation Incorporated is only a proposed tenant within the Boardwalk project and would not receive TIF funds from the city, McSpadden said. The TIF agreement is not contingent on AAG’s participation, she said.

Still, the proposal for AAG to operate workforce programs and administer rent subsidies for people trying to transition from the streets into housing has helped mitigate concerns about what otherwise will be expensive apartments, Ward 2 Councilman James Cooper said Aug. 1.

“Your workforce approach makes me more comfortable because I was not comfortable with the market-rate stuff (…) separate from the workforce,” Cooper said. “That was giving me a lot of heartburn and some of my residents heartburn. But this is a very thoughtful way to mitigate that.”

Carras told council members that the Boardwalk project will be built tower by tower based on leasing benchmarks and that it will take between two and six years for completion.

The Aspiring Anew Generation nonprofit, meanwhile, appears to be in its early stages, and questions about its capacity and status in Arizona have spurred private conversations among OKC nonprofit leaders who say the tall task at hand will not be easy for a nascent nonprofit.

At the Aug. 1 meeting, Ward 6 Councilwoman JoBeth Hamon asked Carras which OKC social service organizations her team has met with as they plan for their nonprofit housing and workforce project in the Boardwalk.

“We started with the day shelter, even though we’re not a shelter. We don’t function on a daily basis. We are a program that the client or individual that has issues retaining jobs or a career, they volunteer, but they sign up, and it’s a regimented program for two years,” Carras said. “Everybody is individually assessed. So it could be a mental illness, it could be a traumatic event, they could have lost a spouse. It could be domestic violence, and now trying to get away — need to get a job. So we’re helping the people that have many reasons why they are having hard times sustaining employment. (…) It’s all about getting back on their feet.”