City Council

f. NOTICE OF FUNDING AVAILABILITY (NOFA) FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF\nTHE ORANGE BLUFF AND WALNUT BLUFF WORKFORCE HOUSING SITES\nAND SOLICIT PROPOSALS FROM QUALIFIED AFFORDABLE HOUSING\nDEVELOPERS\nSummary:\nLast year, the State Department of Housing and Community Development\ncertified the City’s Housing Element, which included two sites specifically entitled\nfor the development of workforce housing. Known as Orange Bluff and Walnut\nBluff, the properties are comprised of 8.6 and 2.0 acres of undeveloped property\nrespectively; both sites are owned by Signal Hill Petroleum (SHP). Collectively,\nboth sites are zoned and entitled to accommodate up to 380 units of workforce\nhousing which help the City meet its Regional Housing Needs Assessment\n(RHNA) allocation for the current Housing Element cycle.\nThe City and the Housing Authority have accumulated funding for the\ndevelopment of affordable housing totaling approximately $10 million;\nnotwithstanding this amount, an affordable housing developer would need to\nsecure substantially more funding to design and construct both residential\nprojects. The developer selected to work on the two sites will need to leverage\nthe funding proposed as part of the NOFA and successfully receive funding from\nvarious sources including tax credits, grants, equity loans, and the Gateway\nCities Affordable Housing Trust.\nStaff recommends issuing the NOFA to solicit proposals from qualified\ndevelopers that will partner with the City and the property owner (SHP) to\nsuccessfully build out the two sites. Given the complexities associated with\nfinancing affordable housing projects, the NOFA includes specific qualifications\ncriteria and requires the proposers to provide a conceptual proforma analysis\nand a development plan for consideration as part of the evaluation process. A\npanel comprised of City staff and a representative from SHP will evaluate the\nproposals and recommend a developer to the City Council.\nRecommendation:\nDirect staff to issue the NOFA for the Orange Bluff and Walnut Bluff workforce\nhousing sites and solicit proposals from affordable housing developers.\nRECESS THE HOUSING AUTHORITY