Who says affordable housing properties have to be bland? Not members of the National Housing and Rehabilitation Association, some of whom are developing what they describe as the next generation of low-income housing.
NHRA members, meeting in Bonita Springs, Fla. at their annual meeting, describe themselves as the pioneers of the business who combine programs and funding sources to lead in building and reshaping America. They frequently use all the tools and programs offered at the national and local levels to finance their communities.
A case-in-point is Lincoln Towers in Wilmington, Del., where the Michaels Organization is demolishing an outdated public housing complex to make way for a mixed-used development that includes its own fire station.
Using an array of funding sources, including some stimulus money, green funding and city replacement housing funds, Lincoln Towers is a public-private venture between Michaels, the Wilmington Housing Authority and the city, Michaels’ senior vice president Milt Pratt said during a panel session.
The $29 million project will feature 88 units of both affordable and market-rate housing for seniors, plus the aforementioned firehouse, which will occupy the first and second floors in a corner of the 10-story building. The city paid the entire cost of the $3.5 million fire facility, Pratt said.
Michaels, a Marlton, N.J.-based developer and the National Association of Home Builders’ multifamily development firm of the year in 2010, also is involved in an innovative project, Janie’s Garden, an 86-unit garden style property of both flats and townhouses. As described by Bill Russell, who heads the Sarasota Housing Authority, Janie’s Garden also features a LEED-certified resident services center with 5,000 square feet of space for social services programs.
The neighborhood is just the first phase of an admittedly ambitious plan by the city, county and state housing authority to revitalize public housing sites in Sarasota, said Russell, a 15-year affordable housing veteran who has led the turnaround of a housing authority that was placed in receivership by federal regulators several years ago.
The breakdown of the first phase looks like this: 66 subsidized units and 20 market-rate units, all being built from seven sources of funding ranging from $10.9 million in equity from 9% tax credits to $283,000 in deferred developer fees.
When the property’s three phases are finished, Janie’s Garden will feature 225 apartments, a fitness center, business center, resident’s lounge and plenty of green space. Retail space will be available in the second phase, which is now being built. All three sections are designed around a Bus Rapid Transit station planned by the city, county and state, making it the first transit-oriented development in the area.
Elsewhere in Florida, David Deutch, a partner in the Miami-based Pinnacle Housing Group, talked about taking over a 412-unit court-condemned property that Miami-Dade County officials didn’t want to foreclose upon because it would have had to relocate 275 families.
The building “couldn’t be rehabbed,” said Deutch, who formed Pinnacle 15 years with several partners. “We could have spent $40,000 per unit and it still would have been substandard.”
So instead, Pinnacle cobbled together a financing package that called for relocating current occupants and demolishing the building, replacing it with 300 state-of-the-art units that Deutch said “will change the landscape of this urban community.”
But Deutch, who is responsible for his firm’s lender relationships and other finance functions, is most proud of the fact of the “enormous relocation undertaking.” Over a period of 4.5 months, 275 families had to go elsewhere, but “not a single family was unhappy,” he told the meeting.
NHRA chair Debra Koehler said her company, Sage Partners in Tampa, is not just looking for nontraditional sources of financing, it also is looking for nontraditional partners such as church congregations.
In once such instance, Sage is building 120 units in the downtown area on a site that once housed an historic church that dates back to 1914. The building had to be deconsecrated, but the sanctuary is now planned for use as a playhouse and “tween” room, and the stained glass windows are considered to be public art.
Working with church groups is not without its challenges, said Koehler, but apparently worthwhile.
“You have to understand their approval process. It can be cumbersome and detailed,” the NHRA chair told the conference. “But we’re now getting a reputation within the religious industry.”
