The moment Bob Wood laid eyes on the Clemens House, he was mesmerized.

It was 2009, and Wood had recently completed a renovation of the Franklin School on Martin Luther King Drive as low-income senior apartments. He was asked by fellow developer Paul McKee to consider a project on the historic mansion built in 1860 by Mark Twain’s uncle, James Clemens, as a tribute to his deceased wife, Eliza.

Cast-iron images of Eliza’s face adorned fireplaces and windows, even after decades of decline. And the wood, the floors, the doors, the columns, all were designed and built with intricate detail and care.

“It was magnificent,” Wood said.

In early 2010, Wood and McKee received approval from the Missouri Housing Development Commission to access $1.5 million in low-income housing tax credits to help finance the development. But that was just a small piece of the financial puzzle for a projected $14 million project. MHDC staff recommended that the state issue brownfield tax credits to clean up the property, historic tax credits to help preserve the building, and tax-exempt bonds to help finance the project.

Then politics got in the way.