Mountain Housing plans affordable apartments

April 14, 2009

By Mark Barrett

City Council is scheduled to decide this evening whether to approve a local nonprofit's plans to develop 72 affordable apartments in West Asheville.

The complex proposed by Mountain Housing Opportunities would be located off Deaverview Road on property just west of the Deaverview Apartments public housing complex. It would be one of several complexes of a similar size that MHO has developed in and around Asheville.

An MHO official and an outside analyst said demand for affordable housing remains strong in the area despite the economic downturn.

As currently planned, rents for the one- to four-bedroom units in the complex would range from $227-$615 a month and are designed to be affordable to people earning 60 percent of the area's median household income.

A shortage of affordable housing is a constant problem in Buncombe County, given the area's relatively high housing costs and low wages.

When MHO developed a similar complex recently near the U.S. 19-23-74/Interstate 40 exit, there were more than 600 applications for the 63 units, said Rich Olejniczak, a rental development officer at MHO.

An analysis done for the nonprofit found that the 72 units would meet only 5.5 percent of the demand for similar units in the area, Olejniczak said.

“Demand is incredible,” he said.

Engle Addington, an analyst for Real Data, a Charlotte-based firm that does apartment market research, said the apartment vacancy rate in West Asheville was 9.6 percent late last year, highest of the five zones the company divides Buncombe County into.

Plenty of interest

But Addington, who has no connection to the MHO project, said there will still be plenty of potential tenants.

“Demand for affordable housing is always good. (MHO) tends to lease up their units fairly quickly,” she said.

The complex would consist of seven buildings, two-three stories tall, around a central courtyard on a 5.5-acre tract at the end of Westmore Drive.

City Council approval is needed because city rules require that the entire site — which is currently split between commercial/industrial and residential multifamily zoning — have the same multifamily zoning.

Close to buses

The site, Olejniczak said, has a relatively gentle grade with grass and a few trees and is close to a bus line.

Development of the $8.2 million complex depends on MHO winning use of tax credits that help finance affordable housing projects, Olejniczak said.

Construction would begin in spring 2010.

Additional Facts COUNCIL MEETS

City Council will also consider buying a student-built modular home from Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College to replace the 100-year-old Police Resource Center in Oakley. That 100-year-old building would be demolished to make way for the energy-efficient home. Staff will update council on proposed cuts to close an $800,000 gap in the upcoming budget. Those cuts could include cutting back brush collection to once per month and discontinuing ice skating and hockey at the Asheville Civic Center. Council meets at 5 p.m. today on the second floor of City Hall.

City to get early stimulus cash

http://citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009903100320

ASHEVILLE – The city will get one of its first doses of federal stimulus money with an $842,000 infusion meant to combat homelessness and help with community-building projects such as affordable housing, officials have said.

The City Council tonight will hear an update on how the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act will benefit Asheville. President Barack Obama signed the $787 billion stimulus measure last month.

In anticipation of the legislation, state and local governments including Asheville drew up wish lists for federal taxpayer aid. The city came up with more than $120 million in projects, such as a $40 million solar power plant and $15 million to widen Victoria Road.

This month, U.S. Housing and Urban Development announced the city would receive one of its first chunks of stimulus cash, and that most of it — $509,000 — will go to a homelessness prevention fund. The remainder of the aid will go to community programs selected by the council.

The money could signal the end of a trend of declining federal aid for such community programs, city officials said. Specifically, the homelessness money could mean fewer families end up on the streets relying on the public dole and private charities, said City Homelessness Initiative Coordinator Amy Sawyer.

“We're excited about prevention programs because it costs less to help someone maintain their housing than to help someone find new housing and address all the new things that come along with that,” Sawyer said. “It's more cost effective and it's less destructive to the families and the community.”

About 635 homeless people, or 28 per 10,000, residents lived in Asheville and other parts of Buncombe County in 2007, according to a national once-a-year count supported by federal housing programs.

That was well above the state average of 13 per 10,000 and the national average of 22 per 10,000, a 2007 study by the National Alliance to End Homelessness said. Since then, the number of homeless in Buncombe County dropped by 13 percent to 555 this January.

Sawyer credited the decrease to local programs meant to prevent homelessness and to quickly find housing for those who have lost their homes. The city and Buncombe County allocated more than $500,000 for the programs this fiscal year.

City staff is not yet sure of restrictions on how the money can be spent and hope to know more by April 1, Sawyer said.

Some of the best ways to use the funding would be to aid people with the greatest risk of losing their homes and who have children, said members of the NAEH. The Washington-based nonprofit suggests the money be used for people who have mental illness, have been homeless before or have other high-risk conditions.

The city's Community Development Block Grant will receive the remainder of the federal aid — $332,942. The council gives block grant funds to groups with programs who support the elected official's social goals, including building and maintaining affordable housing.

Last year, the block grant got $1.2 million, most of it federal money. But that money has been declining for the last several years, said John Sanchez, who helps administer the block grant for the city.

“With the new administration we have some hope that they can revisit those allocations. At least we are hoping that we will get the same amount of money that we got last year,” Sanchez said.

Other stimulus money that the city is set to receive includes:

$2.5 million for public transit.

$265,000 for police.

Call Joel at 828-232-5960 or e-mail JBurgess@CITIZEN-TIMES.com.

Pisgah Legal Service Robin Merrell

With only 18 employees Pisgah Legal Served around 9,000 people through 35,000 cases last year.

They receive over 10,000 phone calls a year.

Within these cases 35% are housing cases dealing with home ownership to prevention of foreclosure.

They also look at the BIG PICTURE of affordable housing issues. Robin help with the Affordable Housing plan.

Another issue they work with is making sure landlords and the housing authority's practices following there polices. (Charging late fees when there is nothing in the policies that says they will charge late fees, etc.)

Homelessness Tour with Amy Sawyer 2/15

We went to....

A-HOPE
Breakfast at Pritchard Park
Department of Social Services
ABCCM Veterans Shelter
The Griffen
Hill Crest

MHO with Rich Olejniczak 2/3

received folders from Rich with all of the different programs that Mountain Housing Opportunities offers.

Some other things we spoke about:

Buncombe County median income: 52,500
2nd Morages program
Housing Trust Fund
Fair Housing Laws...
Can not discriminate against race, sex, or disability.
You can discriminate by income, and there is nothing said about sexuality

Quotes from Rich:
"Our services are needed more than ever."
"... all kinds of demand for the rental market"
"If we built a Crowell Park every month we could fill it up for at least a year."

Dinner with Sharone 1/28/09

Met with Sharone who shared her family's stories of steps through affordable housing.

She shared her stories of domestic violence, working with Helpmate, the Housing Authority, Interlace, OnTrack, Pisgah Legal Services, and Habitat for Humanity.

Group Stereotypes 1/21

Stereotypes that we have heard of Affordable Housing units and the people who live there discussed in our first meeting!

• Sectioned by race
• not many white people
• unsafe
• the "projects"
• only low-income people, poor
  
• general negative environment
• "fat black ladies on welfare"
• drugs
• gangs
• ethic
  
• violent
• non-English speaking people
• uneducated
  
• unemployed