REPORT TO HOUSING AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION
SUBJECT
Title
Consider First Community Housing Proposal for $6 Million in Housing Mitigation Funds for Redevelopment of Orchard Gardens Apartments at 245 W. Weddell Drive
Report
BACKGROUND
On March 5, 2015, staff issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for new affordable housing projects to be funded with the City's Housing Mitigation Funds (HMF). A total of $9 million in HMF was made available through that RFP. Staff has received one proposal in response to that RFP, which was distributed broadly to housing developers throughout the County. Applications for affordable housing projects will be accepted on an ongoing basis until the funds are fully awarded.
The sole proposal received to date is from First Community Housing (FCH), a non-profit housing developer based in San Jose. Orchard Gardens, located at 245 W. Weddell Drive, is the only FCH-developed property in Sunnyvale. Most of the other FCH properties are located in San Jose, although there are several in nearby communities, including Mountain View and Morgan Hill. The FCH proposal is described briefly below, with the results of the staff review and proposed funding recommendation. Pertinent sections of the proposal are provided in Attachment 1, Proposal Summary.
Orchard Gardens is an existing affordable rental property acquired in 1998 by an affiliate of FCH, Parkview Apartment Associates, LP ("Parkview"). At the time of the 1998 acquisition, the property included 32 apartments in two buildings built in 1961 as a market-rate rental project. Parkview/FCH added another 30 units in two new buildings on the site shortly after the acquisition, with City assistance, and renamed the property Orchard Gardens. Since that time the entire project has been operated as affordable rental housing. There are currently three outstanding City loans on the property dating from that time, consisting of HOME, CDBG, and HMF funds, with a combined outstanding balanc...
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