When 30-year Sacramento resident Tracy Underwood applied for a single occupancy unit in the soon-to-be refurbished Hotel Berry last month, his application was denied – despite having lived at the same address for the past 25 years and having been at the same job for 15 years – because he had more than one negative line on his credit report. “I need my rent based on my income so I can pay off some debt, save some money and then move so my studio will be available to the next person that needs help,” Underwood, 44, said in an email Wednesday. Many people affected by the downturn in the economy find themselves in need of more affordable housing, but getting access to that housing can be a l

The City Council approved a $1.2 million loan from the city Housing Authority Tuesday for renovation of one of 10 residential hotels located in downtown Sacramento – a project that will result in 22 studio apartments for low- to very-low-income residents. The four-story, 58-unit Ridgeway Hotel, at 914 12th St., was built in 1921 and renovated in 1987, according to a report from the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency. “It has been vacant and boarded up for the past several years,” Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency Executive Director La Shelle Dozier said Tuesday. “It was designed in an old style with small units that had to share bathrooms and kitchens. It’s really in n

A delegation of Sacramento business and political leaders returned from a four-day tour of New Orleans with fresh insight into what it takes for a city to recover and thrive after a disaster, including improving transportation methods, sustainable housing and flood protections. “New Orleans had a unique opportunity to reinvent itself because of all the investments made there after Katrina,” City Councilman Kevin McCarty said Tuesday. “We need to look at how we can reinvent ourselves here, too.” On Tuesday, Council Members Angelique Ashby, Steve Cohn and Kevin McCarty and Mayor Kevin Johnson shared the lessons learned from the people in New Orleans about methods of recovery the city has u

Thursday afternoon, about 50 seniors, homeless and other community members participated in the Sacramento Housing Alliance Affordable Housing Bus Tour. The tour surveyed 10 different housing options and stopped to provide in-depth tours of three housing complexes. Guided by Shamus Roller, director of the SHA, Ken Cross, CEO of Sacramento Habitat for Humanity and Paul Ainger, Mercy Housing project developer, the four-hour tour began and ended at the SHA office in Midtown. "It's important to know what affordable housing means," Ainger said. According to the federal government, housing is considered "affordable" when a person renting or buying it spends no more than 30 percent of his or her

On Tuesday, August 11, the Sacramento city council will decide whether to give away the half-block from K to L on 8th Street, containing the Bel-Vue Apartments and several other buildings to developers Bob Leach, Mohammed Mohanna and Parkcrest Development. The land was recently purchased by the city from Mohanna at a price of $18.6 million, and the developers are asking not only for free land but several years of tax-free operation. The net cost to the city will be about $34 million, 25% of the total investment for the project, in return for about 10% of the return. The proposed project is a 300-foot luxury hotel at 8th and K and a parking lot on 8th & L where the Bel-Vue stands. The proje

On Tuesday Feb. 24, the City Council authorized the purchase of the Berry Hotel from its latest owners, developer AF Evans. Despite the efforts of the developer to restore the hotel and maintain its use as housing for those with very low incomes, the city will soon close the Berry, without a plan to reopen it. Built in 1929, the Berry was part of Sacramento's downtown hotel district, interspersed with theaters and department stores on the blocks near K Street. The Berry and other hotels like the Clunie, the Land, the Sacramento and the Clayton offered nightly rooms to some, while others were rented on a monthly basis. In the era after World War II, downtown hotels faded in popularity comp