City Council

a. UPDATE FROM NATIONAL COMMUNITY RENAISSANCE REGARDING THE\nWALNUT AND ORANGE BLUFF HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS\nSummary:\nEarlier this year, the City Council authorized the City Manager to negotiate and\nenter into an Exclusive Negotiation Agreement (ENA) with the City’s selected\ndevelopment partner, National Community Renaissance (National CORE).\nNational CORE is actively working on the development of the two proposed\nworkforce housing sites, known as Walnut Bluff and Orange Bluff. National\nCORE has made substantial progress in its due diligence of the Walnut Bluff site\nand in its negotiations with the property owner for site control. National CORE\nalso confirmed that the Walnut Bluff site is financially feasible as an affordable\nhousing project and structured its proposed capital stack to confirm to available\nfunding sources, despite changes to the State budget. The Orange Bluff\nproperty, given substantially more complex and cost intensive site remediation\nissues, will require additional time for due diligence and for National CORE to\ndetermine its financial feasibility. National CORE will present its findings as part\nof this interim status update to the City Council.\nStaff recommends the City Council and Housing Authority Board direct staff to\nrenegotiate the Exclusive Negotiation Agreement to establish separate\nperformance schedules for the Walnut Bluff and Orange Bluff properties. Staff\nalso recommends the City Council and Housing Authority Board also authorize\nstaff to negotiate an Affordable Housing Agreement for the development of the\nWalnut Bluff property.\nStrategic Plan Goal(s):\nGoal No. 1 Financial Stability: Ensure the City’s long-term financial stability\nand resilience.\nGoal No. 3 Economic Development: Improve the local economy, support local\nbusinesses, and create a vibrant downtown core.\nGoal No. 4 Infrastructure: Maintain and improve the City’s physical\ninfrastructure, water system, and recreational spaces.\nRecommendations:\n1. Receive a presentation from the City’s affordable housing development\npartner, National Community Renaissance, regarding its progress on the\nWalnut Bluff and Orange Bluff workforce housing sites.\n2. Direct staff to renegotiate the terms of the City’s Exclusive Negotiation\nAgreement with National Community Renaissance to allow additional time\nbeyond the initial negotiation period to complete due diligence of the Orange\nBluff property.\n3. Direct staff to negotiate an Affordable Housing Agreement with National\nCommunity Renaissance for the development of the Walnut Bluff property.