(7)AR 042010 HOME Grant for Senior Housing

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Staff Report to the Mayor and City Council HOME Grant Application April 20, 2010 Page 2 501( c ) (3) and was established in 1995. Headquartered in Sherman Oaks, their early projects were largely in the Bakersfield area, but they now have a total of 3,147 units in operation or under construction, with four projects in neighboring cities in the Inland Empire. ISSUES/ANALYSIS The application for Home funds outlines a conceptual proposal to develop up to 133 units of senior apartments at the corner of Mt. Vernon and Colton Avenue. As conceptually described, it will feature 133 units with 13 two bedroom and 120 one bedroom. The units will include Whirlpool appliances, garbage disposal, air conditioning and heating, granite countertops, low pile senior -friendly carpeting, window coverings, cable TV and high speed intemet connections. There will also be a management office, a community room, central laundry facility, elevators and resident and guest parking. Amenities for the complex will include outdoor activity areas, a community room/recreation area, adult education services and planned social activities. The project targets low income senior households with incomes ranging from 30% to 60% of the Area Median Income, and the project exceeds the required replacement of 101 units at the former Colton Palms site. To increase their competitiveness for this HOME Grant application, the developers requested the City's support of a HOME Program Application for development of senior apartments in the City. The City Council's support for the application will be transmitted by letter as part of the application. On March 5, 2008, eight responses were received to a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to assist in choosing a developer for the 101 units needed for the Redevelopment Agency's replacement housing location at Mount Vernon and Colton Avenue, identified in the Council action of 12/20/2005 to approve the state -required Replacement Housing Plan. From the submissions, the Senior Housing Subcommittee chose to interview two applicants, Related California, and Bridge Housing. Those interviews before the Subcommittee occurred on May 26, 2009. On July 12, 2009, the former Redevelopment Agency Director sent a letter to Related California indicating that the Subcommittee had directed her to engage in negotiations toward an Exclusive Negotiation Agreement (ENA). Those negotiations were never completed. In the interim, Related California indicated that the gap of funds that the Agency would need to fund had grown from approximately $2.5 million to approximately $8 million in order to have viable project. During that same time frame, the Agency learned that the State would be taking approximately $3.8 million of Agency funds for the Supplemental ERAF, leaving the Agency with no funds to fill the needed gap for a senior housing project. CBH, approached the Agency with information about a County of San Bernardino RFP for HOME funds, and indicated that they had successfully completed several projects throughout the state for cities with little to no available financial contribution. Approximately 24 hours prior to the RFP deadline, they began working on an application for funding for the senior project, requesting only a letter of support, with no further commitment unless approved by the City Council.