MONROE - A senior citizen apartment complex near downtown Monroe, proposed by Silverstone Partners, Inc., won't be built - at least not this year.

Mayor Bill Ross said Silverstone Partners was not awarded a tax credit for the low-income housing project from the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA).

"Given these tough economic times, this was not unanticipated," Ross said. "It's another symptom of a greater disease - of this money crunch we're in."

In an e-mail to Ross Friday, Tom Sather, president and CEO of Silverstone Partners, said the application to WHEDA did not score high enough for participation in the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program from Section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code.

WHEDA did, however, say it liked the site and the market for the project, he added.

Sather indicated that Silverstone owners still "believe in this project" and that his firm is going to "take a closer look to see if there are ways we can score points and hopefully resubmit next year."

Ross said the future of the Silverstone project is an issue that would be taken under consideration by a new ad hoc committee he is creating this spring. The new committee is being created to look at the fiscal future of Monroe.

The $7.4 million senior housing project, with about 55 units, was to be located at 16th Avenue and 8th Street. The complex would replace a city-owned parking lot, but was expected to bring more tax funds into the Tax Increment District.

The WHEDA program encourages the development of affordable multi-family rental housing for low-to-moderate income persons.

Tax credits offered by WHEDA increase an investor's down payment in a housing development by lowering mortgage and financing costs, which in turn allows lower rents. Sather had warned the city that the project would most likely die without the WHEDA tax credit.