HUD’s help was invaluable. “The project would not have been viable without HUD selling the land at a low cost and giving us the block grant,” according to Jim Miller, development officer for Michaels Development.
Wardman Court fits CPDC’s mission of upgrading neighborhoods by establishing places for the working class to live. To fulfill HUD’s affordability requirement, 152 of the rental units will be rented to people within 35 percent to 59 percent of Washington‘s area median income (AMI). The 76 condo units were sold to those within 80 percent to 115 percent of the AMI. “I saw it as an opportunity to revitalize a troubled community,” says Leslie Steen, president of CPDC. “To me workforce housing is about what the ordinary person says is affordable. It’s really what someone working an ordinary job can afford to pay.”
Key Financing Bank of America played a key role in the development, as well. The apartments were financed with 4 percent tax credits that came with the tax-exempt bonds, historic tax credits, and an $11 million loan from the bank. It also provided an additional $11 million loan for the condos. “At that point, the Columbia Heights [section of Washington] market was starting to heat up, in terms of property values and the types of houses being built,” says Alex Viorst, manager of the Washington office of Bank of America’s community development lending group. “It was a great project in a great location that was hitting at the right time.”
The bank’s faith in the project was reaffirmed when it was time to rent the units. The first group of apartments opened in November 2002 and were rented up by the end of the year. All 76 of the condos were under contract by the time they opened at the end of May 2003. The developers of the project will begin leasing the apartments in the third building 90 days to 120 days before they open at the end of this year.
The joint efforts of HUD, CPDC, Michaels Development, and Bank of America is not lost on the residents. Norma Johnson, who had lived in the old Clifton Terrace for 19 years and is one of 26 former residents to return to the property, remembers the many years of neglect and is grateful for the renovations. “I am ecstatic,” she says. “We have dishwashers, huge rooms, lovely lobbies, and a laundry room on each floor.”
Affordability in the Badger State The Uplands, Sun Prairie, Wis. Workforce housing is not just an issue in huge cities. Smaller towns feel the affordability pinch, too. For example, Dane County, Wis., which includes Madison – the state capital and home to the University of Wisconsin – is a growing force in the technology and research areas. But with job growth comes population growth – and a demand for housing that sends prices skyrocketing.
The area’s pro-business stance created jobs, but because of its reputation for having a high standard of living, people from the northern Chicago suburbs – about 120 miles away – have moved to the area and workers who commute to Milwaukee – about 65 miles away – have been drawn in, as well, pushing lower-paid workers farther outside of Madison. “As a result of this population growth, housing prices were growing,” says Bill Perkins, executive director of The Wisconsin Partnership for Housing Development (WPHD) in Madison. “This was creating challenges for people at the lower end of the income scale and adding challenges for local governments to undertake smart growth.”
Both the state and city recognized these issues. Madison’s mayor, Dave Cieslewicz, identified housing as his top priority when he took office in 2003, and the state has a mandate to localities to provide housing to serve special needs. Perkins’ group is helping in providing more housing, as well. In the late 1990s, it began to expand into development and wanted to build housing for a wide variety of income levels.
