Tax Credit Advisor — June 2011 — Two years of hearing “no” from prospective equity providers would be enough to make most people and organizations give up on a project. But for Joe Heaphy and the Detroit nonprofit he works for, the rejections almost became a personal challenge. Today, after an arduous endeavor, the Neighborhood Service Organization (NSO) has begun a two-stage, $50 million historic rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of a massive old former office/warehouse building in midtown Detroit into affordable apartments, offices, and space for supportive services. The first stage, a $37 million transaction that closed in March, will involve the renovation of five upper floors of the 253,000-square-foot building into 155 units of permanent supportive rental housing for homeless adults, plus space on the first floor for supportive services for the residents. The second stage, not yet closed, will involve the redevelopment of the remainder of the building for NSO’s service and administrative headquarters. In addition, the nonprofit is seeking to locate a federally qualified health care clinic in the building for residents and the local community. NSO is a social service agency that serves lower-income persons and families in the Detroit metro area. The nonprofit currently leases office space downtown; 200 of its staff of 250 will move to the NSO Bell Building once it is refurbished.