City council to vote on Bricktown development as involved nonprofit fights fraud questions

A nonprofit agency wanting to provide low-income housing in Bricktown is battling fraud questions as the Oklahoma City Council is set to vote on $200 million in tax increment financing for the otherwise upscale, multi-tower development in Bricktown.

The Oklahoma City Council on Tuesday is expected to vote on the request from California developer Scot Matteson. Most of the 900-unit, three tower development would consist of upscale residences. The proposal, however, includes up to 132 apartments that would possibly be leased by Arizona-based Aspiring Anew Generation, which in turn would provide the residences to low-income residents.

Matteson said the development, the Boardwalk at Bricktown, could proceed without the low-income housing. But that component has been cited by some Oklahoma City Council members as possibly helping them overcome concerns about using tax increment financing to help build upscale apartments.

Aspiring Anew Generation, the nonprofit, was founded by Jessica Stanford. Stanford also operates a for-profit clinic under the same name that in June was added to a list of Arizona agencies whose Medicaid payments had been suspended.

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What to know about Aspiring Anew Generation and the Arizona investigation

At issue is whether the suspension is linked to an investigation into agencies accused of overbilling the state of Arizona for services not done or done properly while collecting Medicaid payments on clients' behalf. Stanford argues her for-profit clinic had Medicaid payments suspended due to billing questions unrelated to the fraud investigation. Aspiring Anew, the for-profit, showed evidence to The Oklahoman showing its license was still active.

Joanne Carras, a board member with the nonprofit, said the clinic hopes to get the suspension lifted by the state within the next few weeks and that regulators informed them the clinic might be allowed to back-bill for services rendered during the suspension of payments.

Questions about Aspiring Anew Generation and its founder started when The Mesa (Arizona) Tribune reported last month that the for-profit Aspiring Anew Generation was suspended “in the wake of a crackdown on fraudulent Medicaid billing announced by Gov. Katie Hobbs and state Attorney General Kris Mayes in May.”

Records examined by The Oklahoman, however, show the list Aspiring Anew was added to was started in 2019, long before the current fraud investigation, and that the list also includes agencies suspended over billing investigations and unresolved reporting disputes.

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The Arizona attorney general’s office did not respond to multiple requests by The Oklahoman for comment to clarify the matter.

Stanford, meanwhile, participated in a July video call with The Oklahoman in which several women spoke of their troubled pasts and how Stanford and her nonprofit helped them deal with their addictions and find permanent housing and jobs.

During the video call, Stanford showed a form letter sent to organizations from Arizona officials detailing their Medicaid suspensions. Potential fraud is listed as a possible reason for some of the suspensions. The letter also addressed cited reasons for each organization. The list did not include fraud by Aspiring Anew Generation. It did include questions about the nonprofit's billing codes and operating hours.

The nonprofit wing of Aspiring Anew Generation has shifted its original plan of providing apartments for the chronically unemployed and homeless to one that is based on providing affordable housing. Carras said that while the for-profit Aspiring Anew Generation might operate a workforce training center as part of the Bricktown operation, the nonprofit is in talks with local agencies that might oversee that operation instead.

How the proposed apartments in Bricktown would work

The proposed operation is for the nonprofit Aspiring Anew Generation to provide its apartments to low-income residents or those with chronic job or housing challenges and charge a minimal starting amount, sometimes free, for rent. The tenants would be provided counseling and training with rent being increased over two years as they find work and are able to pay for housing.

The residents, according to the proposal, would then be transitioned to permanent housing elsewhere in the city.

Aspiring Anew is a relatively new nonprofit and its operations to date are at a fraction of what it proposes doing at the Boardwalk at Bricktown. Carras said an IRS 990 form has not been filed to date for the nonprofit because its assets did not meet the reporting requirements. She said she expects a 990 form will be filed next year.

The website for Aspiring Anew Generation was overhauled since the July interviews with The Oklahoman with all references to Stanford and a listing of its board of directors removed. The site also no longer lists its physical address or phone number.

The Boardwalk at Bricktown, which would be built at Oklahoma and Reno avenues, is also to include a Hyatt Dream Hotel that is not part of the tax increment financing request. Plans show all four towers will be about 27 to 28 stories tall and will include two garages, one for residents, and another for visitors to retail and restaurants at the development and adjoining Lower Bricktown.

Including the hotel, the total project cost is estimated at $700 million.

Joanna McSpadden, the city’s economic development programs manager, said the proposed tax increment financing arrangement would work like a rebate where the developer would get back 90% of annual property taxes after they are paid to the county. The developer also is asking for $5.5 million in construction-related use tax increment that would require submission of invoices to be reviewed by the city.

When asked by The Oklahoman about the questions surrounding Aspiring Anew, Matteson said his deal works with or without the nonprofit's participation.

The proposed low-income housing is said by Matteson to not be critical to the financing of the development. The inclusion of such housing, however, was cited by some council members, including Ward 2 Councilman James Cooper, as important to why they might approve the $200 million incentives package.

The market rate leasing for the upscale apartments will be at the highest end of what is being charged for rent downtown, with the apartments at First National Center being the only comparison listed by Matteson. He said other cities like Houston would be used to establish rent levels at his project.

“That was giving me a lot of heartburn and my residents heartburn,” Cooper said at a recent presentation on the development. “But this (affordable housing provided by Aspiring Anew) is a very thoughtful way to mitigate that.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Nonprofit involved in Bricktown development fighting fraud questions