Affordable Housing That Doesn’t Look It

That’s the goal Mayor Najarian is setting for Glendale’s Doran Street project, which the city is looking to expand to a total of 60 residential units. The plan would incorporate two additional parcels to also include “27,500 square feet of public green space” (yay!) Via the News-Press:

The Craftsman-style project is already well-known in development circles for its groundbreaking use of federal New Market Tax Credits. Glendale and Pasadena pooled about $7.5 million to purchase the tax credits, which they sold to Washington Mutual for a 39%, or $3 million, return — providing the development cash.

Down payment assistance loans of $30,000 are in the works for each affordable unit. If ownership changes hands, the loan is to be paid back for assistance reuse. “The residents that get in there will be lucky,” deems Councilman Dave Weaver, chairman of the Housing Authority.

How do you get in on such luck?

From the developer, Heritage Housing Partner’s website (PDF)—
To be eligible for this program, households must meet the following criteria:

• First time homebuyer (low and moderate income programs only) – participants must not have claimed a deduction for mortgage interest or taxes on real property claimed as a principal residence or held title for a property within the last three years, unless you have been displaced by public action or other qualified exception. Workforce Income buyers can currently or have previously owned property but must intend to occupy the HHP home as a primary residence. Fair Market Income buyers do not have any occupancy or ownership restrictions.
• Income-qualifying – Eligible participants must demonstrate that their total household income falls between the income restrictions defined on each housing development. Properties are typically restricted to a variety of income levels including low, moderate, and workforce income. Heritage Housing also has some homes available on the fair market without income restrictions.
• Qualification for a conventional mortgage – Participants must be able to qualify for an appropriately-sized conventional mortgage. Preference will be given to pre-approvals for affordable mortgage products from the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA). For more information on CalHFA and for a list of approved lenders, visit www.calhfa.com

Applications for Doran Gardens available beginning in 09.

image via Glendale News-Press