Case Study 2

Project: Fairbury School | Fairbury, NE

Developer: Foutch Brothers

Description: Foutch Brothers, a development firm out of the Kansas City area, has a reputation as a company that works with communities to preserve and bring life to historic structures. The Fairbury School project is one of their first adaptive reuse projects located in rural Fairbury, Nebraska. Their team was successful in converting a three-story school facility into 23 affordable rental units.

Foutch Brothers completed this renovation in 2005 with the assistance of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) which provides funds to developer in exchange for capping lease rates to support low to moderate income households in the community. In other words, rents were held below market value and leases were only eligible to renters making 30- to 80-percent of the area moderate income. These regulations were held in place for 15-years until 2020 and now the leases are available to anyone interested in the property. The City also continues to provide tax abatement to the facility in exchange for continued use of the school auditorium to host special events like the annual alumni banquet.  

The success of projects like these is dependent upon the willingness of partners to collaborate and provide financial resources outside of the typical means.