Proposed renovation to the former Carr Central High School building and construction of a senior apartment complex on I-20 Frontage Road could receive financing help from federal stimulus dollars.

The Mississippi Home Corporation will apply for $21.8 million available from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to further financing for Housing Tax Credit-funded developments. The allocation, dubbed the Tax Credit Assistance Program, will fill gaps in financing needed to help complete projects due to tight credit markets.

Developers who have received tax credits since October 2006 are eligible for a share of the stimulus money, the state’s housing finance agency said. Those in line for tax credits to be awarded through September are also eligible, which would include both local projects.

The Landmark Group, a North Carolina-based company, proposes a $8.6 million, 58-unit complex on the site of the three-story former school on Cherry Street. An additional 18 apartment units are planned on the site of the school’s former gym. Since the school’s closure in 1979, multiple redevelopment plans by several owners have been attempted on the property, a Mississippi Landmark, with none coming to fruition.

Another North Carolina developer, Integra Development Partners, plans Renaissance Plaza, a $5 million, 56-unit senior apartment complex between Battlefield Inn and Motel 6 on I-20 Frontage Road near the Vicksburg National Military Park main entrance. Its planners prepared a second application for housing tax credits this year after it was passed over for credits last year. In 2007, the company received Katrina-related tax credits to redevelop the Madison Glen Apartments on Hope Street, formerly the Circle Lake Apartments.

“They will benefit if they are awarded tax credits in this year’s funding cycle,” said Scott Spivey, MHC vice president of corporate communications. “The developments are excited about it.”

Rents in both developments will be determined on income-based sliding scales measured against Warren County’s $50,500 median income for families. Completion of either unit depends on tax credit awards, which could be in 2010 if enough financing comes available this year.

In 2008, 58 developments statewide were awarded more than $5.2 million in housing tax credits.

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Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com