Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "shra"

No turning back: Redevelopment transition begins

2012-02-01T05:45:11Z

The City Council unanimously agreed Tuesday to take over responsibilities for the non-housing functions of the city’s former redevelopment agency – but chose not to take over its housing assets and project management functions.

The city – as “successor agency” to the now-defunct Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency – will be responsible for winding down more than $787 million of outstanding obligations over the remaining life of prior redevelopment projects, which varies by project from a few years to nearly three decades.

The city Housing Authority will take over the housing assets and functions – including $81.7 million in assets and managing $80.6 million in outstanding loans receivable.

The Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency will provide administrative and staffing services for projects currently managed by SHRA during a transition period that extends to June 30.

“This is very complicated, and it’s not going to be an easy process,” SHRA Executive Director La Shelle Dozier, told council members Tuesday.

Melissa Corker is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Redevelopment winds down, city must decide next step

2012-01-26T01:49:24Z

Mere days before the Feb. 1 deadline to end redevelopment, the City Council is faced with two important decisions: what role the city will take in the aftermath, and what will happen to agency staff when redevelopment ends.

Although the City Council did not take any action at the meeting Tuesday, City Manager John Shirey outlined the next steps for council members as the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency winds down.

Shirey is the former executive director ~~president~~ of the California Redevelopment Association.

SHRA is the agency responsible for redevelopment in Sacramento County and the city.

An important factor in the process is figuring out what responsibilities the city will take on, and which ones will be taken over by other agencies, Shirey said.

In August, the City Council agreed to take over the non-housing functions of SHRA.

The city is responsible for managing current construction projects and making required payments on bond debt and other financial obligations.

With redevelopment being disbanded altogether, though, the housing assets and activities of SHRA have to be disposed of as well.

The city could assume that responsibility – or it could allow the city’s Housing Authority to take it over, which is what Shirey encouraged the City Council to have the city do.

If the city Housing Authority assumes those responsibilities and they continue to be managed by the SHRA, Shirey said, Housing Authority staff would have the benefit of the expertise of SHRA staff to administer the ongoing housing activities and assets.

Another problem the city is faced with is how it will handle staffing.

Currently, SHRA provides staff for all redevelopment programs in the city and the county.

Once the redevelopment agency is disbanded Feb. 1, staffing duties will have to be transitioned from SHRA to whatever entity takes over.

There are nearly 100 employees working on various projects at this point, Shirey said, and not all of those people will be needed in the transition.

That means layoffs for a majority of those employees.

Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy said Tuesday that she is concerned about potential layoffs.

“I hope that if any layoffs occur, that management is included and it’s not just the workers who take the hit,” she said. “I’ve seen that happen too many times.”

Bernadette Austin, a housing finance analyst with SHRA, spoke to the council on behalf of staff members who have worked behind the scenes on redevelopment projects such as the La Valentina housing project.

“I couldn’t do my job without (those staff members),” Austin said. “They helped create projects that really mean something to the community.”

Austin urged the council to keep as many current staff members in place as possible throughout the transition.

Shirey said attempts are being made in the Capitol to extend the dissolution deadline from Feb. 1 to April 15, but it’s not certain that legislation will make it to the governor’s desk in time to make a difference.

Redevelopment dissolution will be on the agenda at the Jan. 31 meeting, and the City Council is expected to take action then.

Editorial Note: A correction was made to this article after it was published. The incorrect information has been struck out and the correct information added.

Melissa Corker is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

HUD AWARDS $300K CHOICE NEIGHBORHOODS PLANNING GRANT TO SACRAMENTO HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY

2012-01-23T23:07:20Z

SACRAMENTO, CA | U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Regional Administrator Ophelia Basgal joined Congresswoman Doris Matsui in Sacramento announced on January 10 that Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency will receive a $300,000 Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grant. Sacramento is one of 13 cities nationwide receiving this funding to begin grassroots efforts to revitalize the Twin Rivers Community Housing, a distressed public housing development at 321 Eliza Street, and transform the Sacramento River District-Railyards neighborhood.

“All across the country, local planners are serious about rolling up their sleeves to transform distressed neighborhoods into choice neighborhoods,” said Ophelia Basgal. “This community can now begin the comprehensive planning needed to turn the distressed housing at Twin Rivers Community Housing in the River District-Railyards area – a long-neglected neighborhood – into a viable and sustainable mixed-income community that supports positive outcome for families.”

Building on nearly 20 years of success through HUD’s HOPE VI Program, Choice Neighborhoods links housing improvements with a wider variety of public services including schools, public transit, and employment opportunities. The program is a centerpiece of the Obama Administration’s interagency Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative, a collaboration between HUD and the Departments of Education, Justice, Treasury and Health and Human Services. With support from the White House Domestic Policy Council and White House Office of Urban Affairs, the interagency partnership supports local solutions for sustainable, mixed-income neighborhoods with the affordable housing, safe streets, and good schools all families need.

“With this funding, SHRA, the City of Sacramento and its partners will be able to put their full effort into creating a blueprint to provide critical social services, cradle to college education opportunities, and affordable housing in the River District,” said Congresswoman Doris Matsui. “The Choice Neighborhood planning grant will truly help transform and revitalize the River District.”

Sacramento is the only grant recipient west of the Mississippi.

“I am extremely pleased that HUD has selected Sacramento County to receive this very important grant,” said La Shelle Dozier, executive director of the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency. “Working with our partners, this award will help us find ways to make our obsolete public housing community a more viable asset for the surrounding neighborhood as well as the low income families that we are serving.”

Key partners in Sacramento's planning effort are California Endowment, California State University – Sacramento, City of Sacramento, River District Property and Business Improvement District, Sacramento Area Council of Governments, Sacramento Employment and Training Agency, Sacramento Steps Forward, Twin Rivers Unified School District, and UC-Davis Center for Regional Change.

As a result of partnerships like these, the Obama Administration is making it easier for local leaders who are working to redevelop neighborhoods to also access support for cradle-to-career educational programs through the Education Department’s Promise Neighborhoods initiative, public safety strategies through the Justice Department, and community health center improvements through the Department of Health and Human Services.

HUD received 71 submissions for FY 2011 Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grants from communities across the U.S. Successful applicants demonstrated their intent to transform neighborhoods while leveraging outside investments and other federal dollars to plan for high-quality public schools, outstanding education and early learning programs, public assets, public transportation, and improved access to jobs and well-functioning services. HUD is focused on directing resources to address three core goals – housing, people and neighborhoods.

The communities awarded the planning grants announced today will build the capacity needed to undertake a successful neighborhood transformation and create a choice neighborhood. These grants enable communities to create a comprehensive Transformation Plan, or road map over the next 18 months to transform distressed public and/or assisted housing within a distressed community. This Federal support provides a significant incentive for the local community to take critical steps to create viable neighborhood transformation.

Congress approved the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative with the passage of HUD’s FY 2010 budget, and in FY 2011 authorized HUD to use $65 million to provide competitive grants to assist in the transformation, rehabilitation and preservation of public housing and privately owned HUD-assisted housing. Congress recently appropriated $120 million for Fiscal Year 2012. Choice Neighborhoods builds on the successes and lessons of HUD’s HOPE VI program and widens the traditional pool of eligible applicants beyond public housing authorities to include local governments, nonprofit organizations, and for-profit developers (who apply jointly with a public entity).

Sacramento’s application can be viewed at http://www.shra.org/Housing/PublicHousingProgram/
ChoiceNeighborhoodsInitiative.aspx.

# # #

Disclosure: Angela Jones is the Public Information Officer for Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency. www.shra.org

HUD AWARDS SACRAMENTO HOUSING AUTHORITY HIGH PERFORMER DESIGNATION FOR PROPERTY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

2012-01-23T22:51:56Z

SACRAMENTO, CA | For the first time in its history, the Housing Authority of the City of Sacramento has received a High Performer designation on the Public Housing Assessment System Score Report from the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Housing Authority received a PHAS total score of 90 out of 100. The assessment period covered the fiscal year ending December 31, 2010.

“This is a great accomplishment for the Housing Authority,” said La Shelle Dozier, Executive Director of Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency, a Joint Powers Agency which includes the Housing Authority. “We redoubled our efforts to improve our performance in all of the scoring categories and this time we’ve been rewarded for our hard work.”

The PHAS Indicators score in several categories including physical, financial, management and resident satisfaction. The City Housing Authority owns and maintains over 2,200 housing units, including two large housing communities that are more than 50 years old.

“A large percentage of our housing inventory is obsolete and maintaining these units is a huge challenge, particularly with the budget constraints that we are all experiencing,” said Nick Chhotu, Assistant Director of Public Housing for the Housing Authority. “I really want to thank our Housing Authority staff for overcoming the challenges and helping us earn this important award.”

The High Performer designation means that the Housing Authority will be eligible to apply for certain grants and to receive a higher allocation of capital funds.

# # #

Disclosure: Angela Jones is the Public Information Officer for Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency. www.shra.org

Redevelopment agencies lose in the courts

2012-01-05T03:54:12Z

In what has been called a David versus Goliath victory, the California Supreme Court ruled Thursday in favor of Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to disband redevelopment agencies in California, and opponents of redevelopment in Sacramento wasted no time to celebrate the success.

“After years of opposition to redevelopment activities, the abuse of government power and confiscation of property for private use, our day finally came,” Moe Mohanna, a local real estate developer, said Tuesday.

The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday to uphold the redevelopment “elimination” bill, but struck down the bill that would have allowed agencies to make “continuation payments” to stay in business.

The two bills were passed as part of the 2011 state budget and caused a flurry of activity for redevelopment agencies across the state.

The California Redevelopment Association and the League of California Cities quickly challenged the new laws in court.

Meanwhile, redevelopment agencies got to work coming to terms with the possibility that they would have to either “opt in” to a new program – which would require annual payments in the millions of dollars – or submit to having their agencies phased out permanently.

In Sacramento, the City Council and the county Board of Supervisors chose to keep the Sacramento Housing and Revelopment Agency active by agreeing to the required “continuation payments” outlined in the legislation.

If the court had upheld both bills, the SHRA would be preparing to make the first of those payments due in 2012 – an estimated $22 million total – to keep the SHRA going.

The ruling to uphold the elimination bill, however, is more than a game-changer for redevelopment agencies – it’s a game-ender.

“We’re shocked,” La Shelle Dozier, executive director for the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency said Wednesday. “Obviously this is not the outcome that the agency was hoping for.”

Dozier said the SHRA sees the court ruling as one of the “worst possible scenarios” – and one the legislature never intended.

“There was never any anticipation that over 400 agencies would have to unwind over night,” Dozier said. “It was anticipated that some (agencies) would opt to dissolve, but some would opt to continue activities – which is what we had opted to do.

“I think the severing of the two bills in the court was a huge blow to redevelopment agencies,” Dozier said.

Sacramento projects stalled by the legislation while the courts were sorting things out now come to a screeching halt – including the affordable housing portion of the 65-acre Township 9 project and the remaining phases of the Paso Del Nuevo housing project.

“The issue is that, even if the deadline (to dissolve) is extended (by the legislature), there will be a stay on redevelopment activities,” Dozier said. “I don’t anticipate that they will allow us to move forward on any projects while they are figuring out a new redevelopment plan for the state.”

Now that the decision has been handed down, redevelopment agencies will start the process of dissolving – but leaders at the the California Redevelopment Association (CRA) and League of California Cities said Thursday they aren’t finished fighting yet.

The (California Redevelopment Association) and the league vowed to work with state legislators immediately to develop legislation to revive redevelopment, Kathy Fairbanks, California Redevelopment Association representative, said in a press release Thursday.

Opponents of redevelopment agencies see the court ruling as a step in the right direction for the state and for Sacramento, Mohanna said.

“Our neighborhoods, our schools, our police department and many other governmental agencies will now have more funds to provide essential services for our community,” Mohanna said, “rather than a few select private developers that play the game with redevelopment money.”

Melissa Corker is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

2011: The year at City Hall

2011-12-30T06:20:29Z

Sacramento City Council members had their hands full this year – from balancing the budget to redrawing district lines to a citizen uprising that found its way to the doors of City Hall.

Here’s the city government year in review.

CITY MANAGER DRAMA
The year started off with interim city manager Gus Vina not being promoted to the open city manager spot. Vina replaced previous city manager Ray Kerrige when Kerrige resigned in February 2010.

Vina resigned two months later – just a few weeks before the budget was due to the City Council. He later became the city manager of Encinitas.

The City Council was criticized for making decisions about the city manager position in closed sessions before voting not to promote Vina and instead open a national search.

City Council members stalled the search for City Manager saying they wanted to define the qualities they were looking for in the next person to fill the job. Two weeks later, they announced the qualities and the search continued.

The door was open for a new city manager, and while the nationwide search was ongoing, what Sacramento ended up with was not one but two interim city managers: Bill Edgar and Betty Masuoka.

Edgar and Masuoka followed through with the budget plan and presented it to the City Council on time.

As the city got closer to finding its next city manager, Mayor Kevin Johnson expressed disappointment about the search process, saying he felt “the pool of candidates wasn’t as deep” as he would have liked.

By August, Sacramento had a new city manager – John Shirey, former head of the California Redevelopment Association.

Shirey’s three-year contract included a $258,000 base salary – a 16 percent increase in salary over the previous city manager – making him the highest-paid in city history and the first to receive a labor contract.

BUDGET BLOWUPS
The budget process was complete by the time Shirey took his seat at the dais alongside City Council members.

The 2011 budget brought more challenges to face, including a $39 million budget gap.

After months of discussions and negotiations with unions, advocacy groups, public comment and hours-long council meetings, a budget was finally passed.

The new budget included severe cuts to fire and police personnel and city employees – as well as the closure of community centers and public pools.

REDISTRICTING: MAPS AND MAYHEM
As if there wasn’t enough going on in City Hall with the annual budget process, 2011 brought redistricting – a redrawing of council districts that happens every 10 years.

This time, the mayor and City Council appointed a Citizens Advisory Redistricting Committee to do the heavy lifting of vetting a variety of proposed district maps.

After months of review and discussion, the committee presented a group of four maps for the council to consider. From there, the discussions and map revisions really took off.

One unexpected twist to the redistricting drama came when one map was revealed to have been anonymously submitted by advisory committee member Steve Hansen.

Discussions heated up further when two council members – Steve Cohn and Sandy Sheedy – submitted their own map for the council to consider.

A week later, Cohn submitted yet another map, a hybrid version of Cohn and Sheedy’s previous submissions, this time called “Neighborhoods 2.0.”

A boundary dispute between council districts 5 and 6 over which district would contain the UC Davis Medical Center and Sacramento High School created a huge outcry from residents.

In the end, after six months and a grand total of 45 map versions, a final map was selected and approved by City Council, and new district lines went into effect on Oct. 6.

REDEVELOPMENT
With the passing of the state budget in July came big changes for the way redevelopment agencies are allowed to work in California.

Cities throughout the state are given an option to “buy in” to a new redevelopment plan – which would require large annual payments to the state from local agencies. Sacramento decided to go along with the plan and keep the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency alive.

Other cities wouldn’t go down without a fight, and a lawsuit was filed against the state by the California Redevelopment Association. While the case was pending, the court issued a temporary reprieve so cities did not have to make the required “opt-in” payments until a decision was made.

Some redevelopment projects that were moved ahead in 2011 in Sacramento included a revamp of K Street, the La Valentina project and housing projects in the south area of the city.

OCCUPY SACRAMENTO: CITIZENS TAKE A STAND
What started on Wall Street in New York as a citizens’ uprising against corporate greed in America became a nationwide statement of discontent from coast to coast.

When the first Occupy Sacramento protesters stepped into Cesar Chavez Plaza on Oct. 6, it was unclear how long they would stay – or what their message was going to be.

Quickly, the calm protest of Sacramentans showing solidarity with other Occupy movements was stunted by a city park curfew ordinance that prevented protesters from remaining in the park overnight.

Protesters were arrested – more than 100 in October alone – and the uprising was strengthened by a common goal: get the city to make an exception to the rule.

Over the next 10 weeks, large numbers of Occupy protesters spoke at the public forum of City Council meetings to ask the city manager and City Council to allow the group to remain in the park to continue to exercise its First Amendment rights.

Protesters who had been arrested – including war veteran mom Cindy Sheehan – had their day in court, and charges were dropped against many.

Meanwhile, attorneys for the Occupy group filed suit in federal court against the city claiming First Amendment violations, and some Occupiers moved the protest to the lawns at City Hall.

As the year came to a close, the number of Occupiers dwindled at Cesar Chavez Plaza, but the movement was not disbanded completely. A lawsuit is still pending in federal court, according to attorney Mark Merin, one of the representing attorneys.

Despite the ups and downs at City Hall this year, more change and drama is expected in 2012. Between elections and yet another budget – and the ever-present discontent bubbling just under the surface from events in 2011 – the new year is bound to be worth watching.

Melissa Corker is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency selected to receive $150,000 Community Challenge Planning Grant from HUD

2011-11-22T22:46:41Z

Sacramento, CA | The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced that Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency is a recipient of a $150,000 Community Challenge Planning Grant from the Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities. The Agency will administer the grant on behalf of the Housing Authority of the County of Sacramento and is one of only two grantees in the state of California. The highly competitive 2011 Sustainable Communities grants totaled $97 million. Only 27 communities and organizations will receive the Community Challenge grants.

The goal of the Sustainable Communities grants is to help communities improve their economic competitiveness by connecting housing with good jobs, quality schools, and transportation. HUD’s Community Challenge Grants are intended to reform and reduce barriers to achieving affordable, economically vital and sustainable communities.

“On behalf of the Sacramento County Housing Authority and our partners, SHRA is pleased to be selected to receive this important award,” said SHRA Executive Director La Shelle Dozier. “This grant will greatly assist our efforts to strategically position Sacramento for the economic turnaround and to leverage other public/private investment that will help create the quality of life benefits of affordable housing, livable neighborhoods, and healthy lifestyles that our residents need and deserve.”

The grant awarded to SHRA will be used to successfully design a Transit Oriented Development Loan Fund in partnership with a broad range of community interests. The new program will partner with nonprofit and for-profit developers, capitalize on historically low land values, and address the current lack of available credit to acquire land for affordable housing. The fund will provide financing for strategic property acquisition in current and future transit corridors and to preserve and expand affordable housing opportunities in proximity to public transit. The commitments made through the TOD Loan Fund will ultimately leverage other public and private investment into the local housing market. The TOD Loan Fund will build upon local planning and policy initiatives that promote equitable TODs, help secure scarce developable properties near transit and position Sacramento for equitable development and inclusive TOD communities when the market returns.

Additionally, the grant will address a key component of successful TOD neighborhoods which is local jobs and neighborhood services by evaluating the opportunity for creating a food distribution hub near a TOD neighborhood. In addition to providing jobs for local residents, the food hub will also provide access to local fresh fruit and vegetables in urban neighborhoods currently lacking full service grocery stores.

Core partners include California Endowment, Clearinghouse CDFI, Community Alliance with Family Farmers, Sacramento Area Council of Governments, Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services, Teichert Construction, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Valley Vision, Sierra Health Foundation, Sacramento Area Commerce and Trade Organization, Merchants Bank, Housing California and Farmers Bank, Five Star Bank.

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SHRA to expand program to buy, rehab and resell foreclosed properties

2011-10-26T07:00:43Z

The City Council unanimously approved a program that allows the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency the ability to grant developers a “first look” at foreclosed properties for rehab and resale in Sacramento's low- and moderate-income neighborhoods – before the properties are put on the open market.

Through the new program – called the Pilot Foreclosed Property Access and Rehabilitation Program – developers can purchase vacant, foreclosed properties at discounted prices and then rehabilitate and resell those properties.

The benefit to developers is the early access to foreclosed homes provided through SHRA, allowing developers to purchase at a price lower than the developer could buy the property on their own.

The benefit to SHRA is the ability to take greater advantage of a resource that allows SHRA to continue revitalizing neighborhoods and providing affordable homeownership opportunities to Sacramento families.

The program will facilitate the rehabilitation of foreclosed, vacant properties for resale to qualifying homebuyers, according to a SHRA staff report.

“It’s designed to let SHRA and developers get a first look at foreclosed homes and buy them at a good price,” said Bill Watson, owner of The Money Brokers in Sacramento.

Watson is also a developer who participated in a similar housing improvement program in conjunction with SHRA that started in 2009 in Sacramento.

“We took houses that were blighted, boarded-up and otherwise not going anywhere,” Watson said, “and we got them fixed up and put homeowners in them.”

Between 2008 and 2010, Congress passed the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) and allocated a total of $5 billion for housing programs throughout the nation.

The city and county of Sacramento received a portion of those funds – nearly $40 million, according to the SHRA report to the City Council.

SHRA implemented the Neighborhood Stabilization Program in June 2009 to use those funds for the purchase, rehabilitation and resale of foreclosed properties in targeted areas of the city and county.

The NSP program had limited funding, however. At the end of 2010 – after successfully funding the rehab and resale of more than 250 properties – funding began to run out, and the program slowed.

With the City Council’s approval Tuesday, SHRA can implement a new version of the program that does not require the level of funding that the previous programs required.

According to information from the SHRA website, the program focuses on areas most severely impacted by foreclosures and subprime lending. In weak housing markets, those areas don’t easily recover without some assistance.

The majority of these targeted areas are located in council districts 2 and 8, including the Del Paso Heights and Meadowview neighborhoods.

"I fully support SHRA programs that encourage homeownership," said Coucil member Bonnie Pannell. "It's always a good thing."

Pannell represents counci district 8 which includes a portion of the program's targeted areas.

Under the initial NSP, developers and investors purchased foreclosed properties and SHRA loaned funds for rehabilitation of the properties.

The loans were essentially reimbursements for capital invested by developers, and the program specified that the purchase, rehab and resale of the foreclosed properties could not result in a profit for the developers.

“You couldn’t make a profit, but they paid a developer fee of $30,000.” Watson said. “If (the developer) would have made more (on the resale) in the normal market, too bad. If they would have made less, then $30,000 looked good.”

Under the new program, SHRA will contract with developers to give them access to foreclosed property listings and then facilitate the transfer and sale process between the developers, lenders – but without lending rehab funds.

Developers who are approved for participation in the program will pay an annual fee of $1,000, plus a nominal transaction fee for each purchase. No direct financial assistance will be provided to developers participating in the program.

Watson said the program has “real value” because, not only does it “enhance neighborhoods,” it also requires hiring people at prevailing wage, and giving hiring priority to minority business enterprises – providing much-needed jobs in a down economy.

Watson said a significant restriction to the program is that properties have to be sold to owner-occupants.

“That enhances the curb appeal up and down the block because the owner is out there on Saturday mowing the lawn,” Watson said. “That is a good thing.”

~~Watson said homebuyers don’t have to be low-income, but they can’t exceed a certain level of income.~~

~~“(Buyers) would essentially be working-class folks,” Watson said.~~

The pilot program will go before the county Board of Supervisorsfor approval Nov. 8. If the Board of Supervisors does not approve the
program, SHRA would not implement it in the county.*

After the first year the program is in operation, the SHRA will return to City Council to report on success of the program and to make any recommendations for continuing the program or modifications for improvement.

Melissa Corker is a Staff Reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Editorial Note: Corrections have been made to this story after it was published. Incorrect information has been struck out and new information has been added to the story, indicated by an asterisk.

Bus tour shows off south area development

2011-10-21T02:12:03Z

District 8 City Councilwoman Bonnie Pannell hosted a bus tour Thursday highlighting recent redevelopment efforts and future growth opportunities throughout the district with a group of developers, real estate brokers and city employees – along with a few district residents and neighborhood association representatives.

“This is going to be a tour of opportunities,” said City Manager John Shirey at the start of the tour. “We’ve got a good future for this district.”

The Meadowview and south city areas have seen the second-greatest rate of growth in all of Sacramento, second only to North Natomas in District 1, Pannell said.

“We have had a lot of growth (in District 8),” Pannell said, “and we still have more land to be developed. We’re going to be looking for new projects – so developers on the tour, pay attention.”

Some of the economic development successes highlighted on the tour included a $350 million expansion of Kaiser Permanente, a new 20,000-square-foot Valley Hi/North Laguna public library, new recreational amenities with three new parks and the Phoenix Park development – a project completed in conjunction with the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency.

“One way we can get through our financial difficulties in the city is to grow our way out,” Shirey said. “I see the positives all around now. We’ve got something good started, and we can build on that.”

David Kwong, city planning director, pointed out on the tour more development activity at Meadowview Road and Freeport Boulevard, including a new Walgreens and a 20,000-square-foot veterinary hospital.

Kwong also noted the future site of a Fresh and Easy grocery store – something residents in the south area want and need but have very few of, according to Pannell.

“Meadowview really needs a grocery store,” Pannell said. “They’ve been talking about a grocery store for 13 years, and (the future Fresh and Easy) is the closest we’ve come.”

Pannell said residents often have to drive nearly two miles to the nearest store, and that creates a real challenge for people.

Nehla Buchanan, 46, a caregiver with the state of California, has lived in Pannell’s district for about a year. Buchanan said she moved to the Meadowview area because housing was affordable and there was a good opportunity for home ownership.

Buchanan’s neighborhood is adjacent to the future site of the planned Delta Shores development – an 800-acre mixed-use project that will include retail shops, single-family and multi-family housing, and office and commercial uses.

The project will also include at least one grocery store, according to Jain Wager, a developer with MerloneGeier Partners, the developer of Delta Shores.

“I love the Delta Shores development,” Buchanan said. “I can’t wait until they start building over there.”

Buchanan is part of the Meadowview Neighborhood Association, and the group has held numerous meetings with Pannell and city staff to give input into the many changes happening in the district.

“We’ve worked with Ms. Pannell specifically on improvements in our neighborhood, and it’s been so helpful,” Buchanan said. “We will continue to give our input to new things that are happening here.”

Jesse Reese, president of the Meadowview Neighborhood Association, has been a community activist for more than 35 years in the south city area.

“It’s good to see us grow,” Reese said. “It’s inspiring to see things that we’ve worked toward for a very long time finally happening.”

Reese said that, when the idea for Delta Shores was first discussed nearly 30 years ago, the developers at the time wanted to open “another Mack Road” with nothing but apartment complexes, Reese said.

“We wanted more of a development than that,” Reese said. “We now see (developers) MerloneGeier doing something better and hearing what (neighborhood associations) have been wanting.”

Reese said that, as the area develops more, he and the MNA will continue to reach out to City Council to make sure the issues that concerned neighbors want addressed don’t get lost in the shuffle.

City Economic Development Director Jim Reinhart said that, over the past five years, south area neighborhoods have experienced a real growth spurt – but it’s gone “unnoticed” for the most part.

Pannell said south area development has been largely ignored because downtown and North Natomas have been getting the lion’s share of attention at City Hall.

“We have a ton of land that needs to be developed,” Pannell said. “So, we’ve been quietly developing small plots, plugging along and hoping that one day someone would notice.”

The bus tour was the second one in four years that Pannell has hosted. The next one won’t be planned for another two or three years, she said, to allow time for “even more growth and development to show off later on.”

“Even though we still have a lot of vacant land, we have done a lot,” Pannell said. “And we’ll do even more before the next tour.”

Pannell said she hopes to see a new, 200-plus-unit senior center that is in the planning stages get approval in time to break ground next summer.

“I want the light rail South Line to start next year,” Pannell said, “and the Cosumnes River Boulevard connection (between Interstate 5 and Highway 99) to happen next year, too.”

Gwendolyn Feathers, 67, a resident of the district since 1988, said she has seen a lot of the growth and development projects going up in the district, but this was the first bus tour of the area that she has been on.

“I’ve learned so much today,” Feathers said. “We have really been building up in the area – it’s exciting.”

Although City Council approval is in place, the Delta Shores development does not yet have a planned construction start date, according to Wager.

Melissa Corker is a Staff Reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Locke property dispute (part 1)

2011-09-07T20:39:39Z

Public Agency Lawsuit to Seize $21,000 Home from Rightful Purchaser near Sacramento, California...

In the rustic, antique wood-built town of Locke, California, founded from 1912 to 1920s, the Locke Management Association (LMA), a thirteen (13) member board put in place in 2003 to maintain, preserve and manage the town is prioritizing its limited $60,000 operating budget to attempt to undo a recent property purchase that occurred. The buyer, Martha Esch, struck a deal to purchase one of the town’s dilapidated properties with seller, Dona LaBlanc for a $21,000 purchase price. The LMA claims both women circumvented the agency’s rules in order to complete the sale. The property was previously owned by LaBlanc’s cousin, Laura Ulewicz, who died in 2007.

A brief summary of the Town of Locke
The tiny town currently has approximately the same number of residents as it has buildings (about fifty (50)), mostly renters and a few owners. Several of the buildings are vacant. Locke is a well-kept secret and a favorite destination on weekends for in-the-know tourists, photo clubs, artists, bikers, and car clubs. It’s loaded with colorful history of its immigrant ancestors. In 1930, the U.S Census recorded 410 residents in Locke whose origins were from China and nineteen (19) other countries. There is an iconic Main Street bar called “Al the Wops” which is still in business under the same name given it in 1934, by its Italian founder, Al Adami. Al began selling his famous steaks there in 1934 and the steak tradition (among others) continues. The one-block-long town looks like an old-west movie set. In fact, Clint Eastwood and a few other silver screen actors and directors have used the town for their movie sets - most recently, “On the Road,” a soon-to-be-released big screen adaptation of Beat Generation novelist, Jack Kerouac.

Despite the occasional fame Locke enjoys, the parks and side streets go largely unmaintained, the sidewalks are in terrible disrepair, and basic fire response safeguards, such as fire extinguishers and accessible alarms are virtually non-existent. A connective sprinkler system was put on the exterior of most of the Main Street buildings in 2002, but residents have been told by fire officials that the system cannot be tested without turning the entire chain of pipes on and a building would have to be engulfed in flames before they’ll kick on automatically.

The Dispute
Regarding LMA’s quest for Esch’s property, in a March 26, 2011 letter signed by LMA’s Chairman, Clarence Chu, a statement was made: “… to enable the LMA to carry out its legal obligations to its Historic Preservation purposes. (This includes our responsibility to notify the 400 Chinese Ascendants and Descendants of Locke of their own priority to purchase the Locke property).” The “400” statement has been the only reason given by the LMA for its option to exercise its ROFR (Right of First Refusal) on the property.

LMA’s pursuit to give preference to a single ethnic group to buy the property is in probable violation of State and Federal laws. Locke Federal HUD investigators immediately began an investigation on the LMA and its parent organization, the SHRA (Sacramento Housing & Redevelopment Agency) for the discriminatory statement made in the March 26 letter and the LMA’s policy regarding ROFR (Right of First Refusal) – a rule in LMA’s CC&R’s (Codes, Covenants & Restrictions) which allows the agency to match a bona fide offer on any property in the town or to assign the right to purchase - provided they act within 25 days of receiving notification by the seller of the offer.

LMA’s lawyer, Stephen J. Beede has an additional hurdle to convince a Superior Court Judge - that the 25 calendar days had not expired by the time they finally got around to acting - yet, it had expired by four days. Esch, an Ohio-born artist and art teacher says she, LaBlanc and Placer Title Company waited out the time period, completed the property transfer legally and has she believes she has every constitutional right to retain its ownership.

While the LMA board members voted unanimously 6-0 to exercise its ROFR (which raises the question whether the six directors in attendance who voted unanimously in favor of exercising ROFR actually constituted a majority of the 13-member board); there was no discussion of funds allocation for the purchase, hence no vote for allocation of funds from LMA’s sparse budget; additionally, there had been no closed door meeting previous to their March 8, 2011 meeting to fall back on.

Although the Buyer is not mentioned anywhere in the policies and procedures of the LMA’s CC&R’s, Attorney Beede’s lawsuit holds Esch party to the action based on the fact that she was in the audience at the March 8, 2011 meeting and sat silent, making no objection when the board members voted unanimously to exercise its ROFR on the property for which she was in escrow. Esch says she knew that they were late to vote, but it was not her responsibility to educate the board members how to count to twenty-five. She adds that if she’d said anything, she would’ve been scolded for interrupting. At many prior LMA meetings she and others have been referred to by the former Chairman disrespectfully as “invitees,” (non-property owning renters) and are told frequently not to speak to issues until their three minutes during public comment at the end of the meeting.

Esch points out the LMA has made other improprieties, such as opening their own escrow with Old Republic Title Company in Lodi, CA on the property the day before her own escrow with Placer Title closed on March 15, 2011. She believes they were trying to block Placer Title from closing her escrow. LMA opened their escrow without LaBlanc’s or her permissions or knowledge and without any public or noticed closed-door meetings for their escrow – all probable violations of the Brown Act.

The LMA, a public 504-C3 non-profit, falls under the Brown Act which is in place to ensure public transparency. The Brown Act requires public agencies to give advance public notification of its closed and open meetings, timely and adequate information on meeting agendas, summaries of meeting minutes and actions taken, and the opportunity for the public to voice their opinions on matters of discussion at meetings.

The absence of public or closed-door noticed discussion of escrow funds allocation and subsequent opening of its own escrow on the property on March 14, 2011 were done in total secrecy and may constitute a contractual tort in addition to alleged violations of the Brown Act. Several other Brown Act violations by the agency have been alleged to have occurred during and since the property was deeded to Esch on March 21, 2011. Lisa Kirk, a friend of Esch and business owner in Locke has been keeping records of the series of Brown Act violations the LMA board has made.

In early April, Esch refused to cave to the LMA lawyer’s written demand for her title and signed a HUD complaint regarding the discriminatory policies of the LMA, giving preference to a single national origin. Esch began actively rehabilitating her property to transform it into an art and music studio with residential quarters, such as the one she rented and operated since 2005 across the street.

A few weeks later, without any written or verbal complaints from the LMA that she’d done anything wrong, she was served with a second lawsuit filing from Attorney Beede - an injunctive restraining order: for trimming her trees; painting her wood siding and her propane tank brown; for removing an abandoned sign post from in front of her building; and for opening her art and music studio, an unauthorized use of the building, according to Beede. However, two weeks prior to receiving the second lawsuit filing, the county had granted Esch a business license for the location. Esch feels the restraining order Beede filed on behalf of LMA is retaliation for refusing to hand over her title and for filing the HUD complaint.

Additionally, the agency has refused to accept and record her monthly $100 assessments, which she now deposits directly to their bank account through the bank teller, despite Beede’s recent objection, and won’t acknowledge receipt of them. LMA has refused her written requests to view its recorded meeting minutes and agendas; and it has stonewalled her requests for its Historic Review subcommittee to review her building plans so she can obtain required Sacramento County building permits and proceed with having the repairs and updates done to her building.

Esch is represented by Sacramento Attorney Mark A. Wasser, who has filed a demurrer to Beede’s first action of demand for title to the property.

On August 17, 2011, Sacramento Superior Court reviewed Beede's additional filing for the injunctive restraining order to be placed on Esch to prevent her from further trimming of trees, painting, making necessary repairs and using her business license within the property. The injuctive hearing filing was denied by the court, due to lack of evidence that Esch had done anything wrong, countered by the evidence that Esch's attorney Mark Wasser presented which included the fact that Locke Management Association had violated one of their own CC&R's by not giving Esch any prior written or verbal notice of their complaints before filing for the injunction with the court.

The property dispute hearing is scheduled to be heard on December 22, 1011 in Sacramento Superior Court.

FURTHER INFO View online: Sacramento Bee front page article of June 28, 2011

http://www.sacbee.com keywords: Locke dispute

Continue to "Locke property dispute (part 2)"

Disclosure: A friend who is adept at journalism assisted me to present my side.of this ongoing challenge the LMA has put on my shoulders. I welcome all opinions and encourage fair statements from LMA board and its attorney on this public forum.

Building community and gardens in Oak Park

2011-08-29T08:01:23Z

The former site of a gas station at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and 12th Avenue has been transformed into the city’s ninth community garden. The garden’s grand opening on Saturday offered free seeds, magazines and workshop information to several dozen attendees.

Bill Maynard, Sacramento’s director of community gardens, has been working on this project for four years. He said half of the garden plots have already been rented at a cost of $25 to $50 per year. WIC, a federally funded organization that focuses on nutrition and health for women, infants and children, rents space in the garden, which is near their office building.

Andrea Kennedy, one of several people tending gardens at Saturday’s opening, has a plot divided into four sections, which include broccoli, Brussels sprouts, strawberries, cauliflower, yams, chard, snap peas, snap beans, mint, peppers, herbs and flowers “for color.”

John Roberts was busy tilling the soil, claiming it was harder than when he worked in the concrete business. He has a family garden plot where he will plant celery, garlic and broccoli.

“Taking a vacant lot and doing something great signifies what’s happening in Oak Park,” Councilmember Jay Schenirer said, adding that his office will subsidize the first year of rent for residents who cannot afford it.

The garden’s site was acquired several years ago through a “grant for redevelopment purposes,” said Matt Hertel, redevelopment planner for the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency. The site has been soil tested and cleaned and is, in Hertel’s words, edible.

In addition to individual and group plots, the garden has community plantings, including pumpkins that will appear this fall, and fruit trees planted along one fence. Maynard said the mandarin is the garden’s ceremonial tree.

On-site compost bins will be used to teach gardeners about composting and reducing waste. Composting reduces greenhouse gasses, particularly methane, by keeping green waste out of the landfills.

“Composting is a great soil amendment, plus it is economical,” Sacramento waste reduction coordinator Doug Huston said. “Fifty to 70 percent of waste to landfills could be composted.”

The garden is the first official element of the MLK Streetscape and Urban Development Plan, providing access to healthy foods and improving the street’s aesthetics. Where a vacant lot once stood, a garden will provide food, beauty and community.

The parks and recreation department has scheduled to open gardens at Valley Hi Park and Camellia Park by the end of this year.

Maydestone building nears completion

2011-08-24T00:39:08Z

With three weeks until the historic Maydestone apartment building opens for an art show downtown, the fences have come down, the façade has been painted and several units have been staged as residences even as final work is completed.

The $7 million affordable housing project at the corner of 15th and J streets received $6.1 million in loans from the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency.

Presentation Development, LLC – set up by D&S Development, Inc. – contributed $900,000, according to Bay Miry of D&S Development.

“We’re trying to design it more like a European residential unit,” Miry said. “(Europeans) like to live where there’s a lot of interaction with people, and they don’t need cars to get around.”

The historic building was built in 1910, and Miry said a lot of the redevelopment funding was made possible by its restoration with a mind to preserving the historical characteristics of it – features such as the detailed exterior, mostly original floorplan and preservation of historical elements throughout the project.

Original built-in storage units and beds that slide into walls were left intact, and the staged rooms give an impression of how tenants might live in the space, Miry said.

In addition to historical aspects being left intact, Miry said numerous modern features were added, including a camera system for the front door with screens in each room for security when buzzing people in, energy-efficient heating and air conditioning units, energy-efficient solar water heating equipment and an elevator that uses energy from its movements to pump power back into the building’s electrical system.

Solar panels on the roof also shade air conditioning equipment and help provide electricity for the common area lighting.

“This isn’t your standard affordable housing project,” Miry said.

The 32 units range in size from 300 to 700 square feet, and rents will be between $700 and $1,500, Miry said.

The target income range for tenants is $30,000 to $60,000, Miry said.

“It’s perfect for workforce housing, artists, empty nesters and other people who want to live downtown.”

The building will be ready by mid-September, and leases are projected to start on Oct. 1.

Part of the reason redevelopment funding was spent on the project, Miry said, was due to the fact that the city has funded a lot of low-income housing through the SHRA over the past decade, and moderate-income-level housing is being added to create more of a balance in the area.

Miry said about 120 construction jobs were created for the project, and supplies were bought locally whenever possible.

There is no off-street parking for the building, but Miry said the project is designed to be walkable, and permit parking is available on the street.

A property manager will be on-site all day every day, and a basement area gives residents access to a common area, pool table, furniture, storage units that can be rented and a small fitness center that will have a few treadmills and free weights setups.

An art show is scheduled for Sept. 10, which will feature local artists and will take up the first two floors of the building.

“We’ve been working on this for about a year,” Miry said. “We’re happy with the way it’s turning out.”

A worker on another project nearby walking by the building on Tuesday afternoon said he is impressed with the work that has been done.

“I like it a lot,” said Lance Linville of Sacramento. “They’ve done a really good job, and it’s good for Sac.”

To see how the building looked when it began, click here.

To see how it looked at the midpoint of the project, click here.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

City decides to keep redevelopment agency alive

2011-08-11T00:54:39Z

Redevelopment in Sacramento will continue, but it will cost the city more than $20 million.

The City Council unanimously approved an ordinance Tuesday that allows the city to make an initial $18.3 million payment to the state in order to maintain the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency.

The ordinance – an emergency measure that takes effect immediately – authorizes the city to participate in the “Voluntary Alternative Redevelopment Program” (VARP) under a new state law (ABx27) enacted in July.

Participation in the program allows redevelopment agency activity to continue as long as continuation payments are made to the state each year.

La Shelle Dozier, SHRA executive director, said that in order for Sacramento to stay in the redevelopment game it must make an initial $21.8 million payment – $18.3 million from the city and estimated $3.5 million from the county – paid in two installments in 2012, plus $4.2 million from the city and $839,000 from the county annually thereafter.

According to the new state law, if the city and county didn’t create an ordinance to opt into the VARP and make the VARP payments, the redevelopment agency would be dissolved as of Oct. 1.

“Every project we have generates jobs in the region,” Dozier said. “In these economic times, that will have a huge impact.”

The city will make the required payments to the state to prevent “the total loss of benefits provided by the Agency to the taxpayers, property owners and residents of the city,” according to a report from city and SHRA staff.

On July 18, the League of California Cities (LOCC) and the California Redevelopment Association (CRA) filed a petition in the California Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the new redevelopment agency laws.

New Sacramento City Manager John Shirey said on Aug. 4 that he will be doing double duty as both city manager and taking part in the lawsuit against the state, of which he was a part as executive director of the CRA.

While the legal challenge makes its way through the courts, the City Council isn’t waiving any legal rights by enacting the ordinance. If the challenge from LOCC and CRA is successful, the City Council can repeal the ordinance.

The VARP payments will be made “under protest,” the ordinance states, and the city will have the right to recover payments (plus interest) if the courts determine the new redevelopment laws are unconstitutional or illegal.

Craig Powell, president of local political watchdog group Eye on Sacramento, addressed the City Council Tuesday with concerns that continuing SHRA will have a negative impact on the city’s general fund.

“What would the general fund receive on an annual basis if the redevelopment agency went away?” Powell asked. “You would not be doing your job if you did not know what you’re giving up in the way of cash to the general fund by making this payment to keep the RDA alive.”

Powell criticized the SHRA as a “debt-creating machine,” saying the agency has run up $1 billion worth of debt.

Powell said in an interview Wednesday that, if the agency is dissolved, that debt would be paid down and income for the city coffers would increase – to the tune of approximately $15 million annually after 10 years, according to Eye on Sacramento estimations.

Powell said that funding from property tax revenues currently going to redevelopment agency activities could be restored to the general fund “for badly needed police, fire, parks and other general services.”

Interim City Manager Bill Edgar and Dozier responded to the criticism Tuesday night by noting the ordinance to continue redevelopment agency activity does not require the City Council to pledge any general fund revenues to make the VARP payments.

Any payments required under ABx27 will be funded solely from SHRA funds or assets transferred to the city, Dozier said.

Additionally, SHRA will suspend tax increment allocation to the Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund (LMIHF) for 2011-12 to help make the initial VARP payment.

“There is a cost to the city, however, in the way of delaying projects,” Dozier said. “Less redevelopment equates to less jobs.”

In 2010, SHRA invested more than $25 million in 76 redevelopment projects, according to the staff report. Of those projects, 18 were completed in that year, resulting in 530 temporary and permanent jobs.

Dozier said it was necessary to enact the VARP ordinance right away because, otherwise, SHRA’s redevelopment activities would be suspended and the agency would be dissolved as of Oct. 1.

Without adoption of the ordinance, projects such as the La Valentina development project, the 65th Street bus transfer relocation, Township 9 affordable housing component, and 800 K Block and 731 K St. enhancements would be immediately impacted, according to the staff and agency report.

The next step for SHRA, Dozier said, is to file an appeal to the state regarding the payment.

“Since the agency has seen a steep decline in our tax increment revenue,” Dozier said, “we can file an appeal and that may lower our (payment) obligation.”

Dozier said SHRA staff is reviewing its annual project budget so it can determine the exact amount the city will need to put forth for the continuation payment.

SHRA will report back to the City Council in November with that amount as well as the amount of project defunding necessary.

Melissa Corker is a Staff Reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency Receives National Award for Its Successful Reorganization of Electronic Waiting List Applications

2011-07-29T22:00:34Z

Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA) has been named a 2011 recipient of the prestigious National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO) Merit Award for its efforts to reorganize electronic database waiting lists for the Sacramento region. SHRA received the award for the Access Code for Wait List in Administrative Innovation category. The award recognizes outstanding achievement in housing and community development programs throughout the nation.

“I am very proud of this unique model that the Sacramento Public Housing Authority has developed for our applicants,” said SHRA Executive Director La Shelle Dozier. “This process has created greater efficiency and better service in the way we help place families into housing where they choose to live.”

SHRA officials say because families went to the housing site to obtain an access code, those who applied were more likely to become residents. This means less staff resources were necessary. Almost twice as many families became residents with the access codes than before the access codes were implemented.

“We are extremely pleased with the way applicants respond to this electronic application process,” said MaryLiz Paulson, SHRA Assistant Director. “Using computers and Internet technology has turned out to be a highly preferred and practical way for applicants to quickly and easily complete the first steps to get placed on the wait list and subsequently into a safe, affordable place to live.”

The award was presented at NAHRO’s National Conference in Louisville, KY.

Disclosure: Angela Jones is the Public Information Officer for Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency.

State budget brings good news and bad news for Sacramento

2011-07-14T01:39:44Z

The new California state budget reduced spending by $15 billion and potentially includes an additional $2.5 billion in cuts – but it’s not all bad news for Sacramento.

Some of the impacts of the state budget on Sacramento were outlined at the City Council meeting Tuesday, most notably problems stemming from changes to redevelopment, realignment and motor vehicle license fees.

“The best thing I can say is that it was an on-time budget,” said David Jones, lobbyist for the city of Sacramento.

The budget was balanced using $4 billion in projected revenue increases, Jones said, and about 40 percent of that is “just hopeful thinking and subject to litigation or challenges.”

That’s good news for the city, Jones said, because some increases in the budget would result in significant revenue loss for the city if they remain in place.

One aspect of the state budget that will have a deep impact on the city is the restructuring of redevelopment agencies.

According to Jones and Leyne Milstein, city finance director, redevelopment funds from tax increment funding through the state bring approximately $3.5 million to the city and county each year.

Under the state’s new Voluntary Alternative Redevelopment Program, the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA) will have to come up with an initial $22 million “continuation payment” to continue its operations, or it will be dissolved.

If that happens, said La Shelle Dozier, executive director of SHRA, numerous Sacramento redevelopment projects in the works will be stalled unless alternate financing is identified, and some projects would never come to fruition.

Jones said the California Redevelopment Association is filing a lawsuit to stop the new redevelopment agency legislation but, until that litigation is resolved, redevelopment agency activities in Sacramento are on “uncertain ground.”

Another item in the state budget that will impact the city comes from the realignment of public safety programs from the state to local governments.

Senate Bill 89 (SB89) diverts 100 percent of motor vehicle license fee revenues from cities to counties, using it to fund public safety activities that have been realigned from the state to the counties.

Until last year, Sacramento received approximately $1.7 million from vehicle license fee revenues annually.

“Realignment is one of the major features of the governor’s budget,” Jones said. “There will definitely be an impact (to local government) down the line.”

The governor’s realignment strategy involves shifting low-level offenders from state institutions to county institutions and local government programs.

“We’re going to see offenders crowded out of from our county jail and possibly onto the streets,” Jones said.

Other realigned programs, according to the governor’s budget summary, include local public safety programs, mental health, substance abuse, foster care, child welfare services and adult protective services.

“The measure passed in the very last hours of budget talks,” Milstein said. “If this legislation stays on the books, it will be a real hit to the city.”

The state budget isn’t all bad news, though, said Jones.

The Community Oriented Policing Services public safety grant has been approved, Jones said, and that means $763,000 in funding to the city.

Assembly Bill 678 (AB678), which provides reimbursement to local fire departments for emergency medical transport, is progressing through the Legislature and may be out of committee and onto the governor’s desk by the end of August, Jones said.

Additionally, transit agency funding has reached a higher funding level this year – the second-highest in its history.

“We’ve seen better-than-anticipated sales tax from the first quarter,” Milstein said, “So we’re keeping an eye on it, and it looks like a positive trend. Then we can adjust for it later in the year.”

Read the governor’s budget summary here.
Read the text of SB89 here.
Read the text of AB678 here.

Melissa Corker is a Staff Reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Sacramento redevelopment future in jeopardy

2011-07-09T01:21:03Z

The future of development and affordable housing projects in Sacramento is starting to look pretty grim. Gov. Jerry Brown signed the state budget into law June 29, putting two new bills into effect that significantly impact redevelopment agencies: ABx26 and ABx27.

“There is no good news in any of this,” said La Shelle Dozier, executive director for the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA). “It’s very detrimental, given the fact that we have an economy that’s struggling.”

The two bills go hand-in-hand. ABx26 says redevelopment agencies can opt to discontinue redevelopment activities and be dissolved.

ABx27 says that if redevelopment agencies pay a first-year lump sum payment and then commit to annual “continuation payments,” they will be allowed to continue their redevelopment activities – with additional limitations and without any tax increment funding from the state.

Tax increment funding through a redevelopment agency is one way cities and counties are able to finance redevelopment and affordable housing activities.

Over the last six years, tax-increment funding has resulted in the production of 7,329 housing units in the Sacramento area, including 3,189 units for very-low income and homeless families, Dozier said.

According to the provisions of the new legislation, redevelopment agencies have until Oct. 1 to either dissolve or make the first-year continuation payment to continue redevelopment activities.

“We are conducting an analysis of current projects to see how we would generate (our) estimated $22 million payment as well as an evaluation of projects if the agency must be dissolved,” Dozier said.

Each redevelopment agency is subject to a specific first-year and continuation payment schedule, calculated using a formula outlined in ABx26.

For SHRA, which is an authority of both the city and the county of Sacramento, the “year one” payment amount would be $22 million, Dozier said, and continuation payments are estimated to be approximately $5 million every year after that.

~~Once the SHRA governing boards have an opportunity to review the completed analysis, Dozier said, they will give the agency their recommendations on the options available.~~

Once the agency has an opportunity to review the completed analysis, Dozier said, she will give the SHRA governing boards recommendations on the options available.

“Right now, we’re in a state of limbo,” Dozier said.

At this point, several major redevelopment projects in Sacramento are currently stalled, Dozier said.

These include the 800 K Street project, a mixed-use development to help revitalize the center of downtown; the 65-acre Township 9 project, which is a $1.7 billion mixed-use urban fill development, and Veterans Village, a proposed new construction development in the Mather Redevelopment Area that would provide affordable housing for veterans.

Some projects that have already been approved, however, would not be affected by the new legislation, including the Seventh and H streets project, the La Valentina project on 12th Street, and the Hotel Berry renovation project, Dozier said.

These three projects are slated to provide, in total, nearly 250 affordable housing units and create more than 400 jobs, according to Dozier.

"(Redevelopment agencies) do great work – phenomenal work,” said Eric Rasmusson, a Sacramento lobbyist who works on local housing issues. “But we can't afford them the same way anymore. That's the message of this state budget."

By eliminating redevelopment agencies, Brown anticipates a $1.7 billion savings in cost offset to the state general fund.

“Right now, we’re prohibited from engaging in any new redevelopment activity,” Dozier said, “so we’re focusing on existing projects to keep them moving forward.

“We’re hoping for relief from the courts so that we can continue working on projects that were heading toward various stages of approval,” she added.

Kathy Fairbanks, a representative of the California Redevelopment Association (CRA), said the association plans to file a lawsuit in the next couple of weeks challenging the new legislation.

“It’s unconstitutional,” Fairbanks said. "Proposition 22 passed last November by an overwhelming majority, and it specifically prohibits the state from doing anything with local funds, including redevelopment funds.”

Fairbanks said that, if ABx26 and ABx27 are allowed to stand, it will mean redevelopment agencies that are not eliminated will be forced to abandon projects – and any resulting jobs and economic opportunity – in order to make the required continuation payments to the state.

In the lawsuit, the CRA will seek an immediate stay of the two bills. If the court grants a stay, some or all of the provisions of the bills would be suspended until the court makes a final decision. Until a stay is issued, however, the legislation will remain in force.

There are 397 active redevelopment agencies throughout California, according to the CRA website.

The elimination of redevelopment in Sacramento would have significant unintended consequences, according to the SHRA website, including “no way to monitor affordable housing developments, no funding to put more money into affordable housing projects in the future, as well as direct and indirect job losses.”

“With the economy in its current condition,” Dozier said, “this is not a time to be putting redevelopment agencies out of business.”

Melissa Corker is a Staff Reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Editorial Note: Corrections have been made to this article after it was published. The incorrect information has been struck out and the correct information has been added.

New senior apartments break ground on Auburn Boulevard

2011-04-12T17:57:00Z

Officials from the County Redevelopment Agency (www.shra.org) and developer BRIDGE Housing Corporation broke ground today on a new 138-unit apartment complex for low income seniors in the Old Foothill Farms community at 5400 Auburn Boulevard, the site of a former Kmart retail center.

“I think this project is going to be a great synergy for the community and for this corner,” said Supervisor Susan Peters whose district includes the Old Foothill Farms community.

The development is the first project that BRIDGE Housing will build in Sacramento. President and CEO Cynthia Parker says the apartments will be a catalyst for revitalizing the area.

“This is a first step to attracting other development and that’s what we’re celebrating today,” said Parker.

In 2008, the Redevelopment Agency began acquiring parcels at this location. Since that time, SHRA worked diligently to develop a plan for the revitalization of the property that would also impact and benefit the Auburn Boulevard corridor and incorporate the needs of the community. After careful analysis, the proposed use for the site included new construction of a senior apartment complex to anchor the first phase of redevelopment of this property. The Agency assisted the project with $8.5 million in redevelopment funds.

“This is where redevelopment gets involved in breathing new life back into our older commercial corridors,” said La Shelle Dozier, SHRA Executive Director. “We depend heavily on redevelopment funds to come back into the community so we’re working hard at the state level to preserve this flexible tool that we use in creative ways to make these types of project come to fruition.”

Other project funding includes an award of 9% Low Income Housing Tax Credits from the Tax Credit Allocation Committee, construction lending from Wells Fargo Bank and equity investment from Wachovia Affordable Housing Community Development Corporation

This site which is largely comprised of the former K-Mart parking lot has been a major cause of concern for residents and frequent travelers since the store closed in 2000. The loss of jobs at the McClellan Air Force Base and the resulting change in business environment for these commercial corridors left very little hope for a successful and vibrant re-use of this property. Residents, business owners and community leaders sought out suggestions and answers to address concerns of this community.

The Foothills Farms Senior Apartments will include 138 affordable senior apartments on 4.5 acres of this site. There are a total of four buildings, three of which will be three-stories and served by elevators. The fourth building is a two-story. These buildings will be linked together with breezeways at the second story level, and will surround a main courtyard designed with gazebos, a patio area. Additional amenities for the senior residents include a clubhouse, swimming pool, bocce court and community gardens. The clubhouse will be appointed with a full kitchen, library, crafts room, and common laundry facilities.

The project is expected to be completed next summer. Prospective applicants may call (916) 484-4007 or visit http://www.bridgehousing.com/FoothillFarms for information.

Ground broken on downtown SRO

2011-03-29T02:36:30Z

Construction has begun on Sacramento's newest single-resident occupancy building downtown.

On Monday, a backhoe operator and other construction workers continued demolishing an old foundation at Seventh and H streets. The eight-story, 150-unit mid-rise being built there by Mercy Housing is the first new structure going up in the railyards redevelopment project area.

Once completed, the $47.4 million affordable housing project, known simply as “Seventh & H,” will be one of the city's largest permanent supportive housing projects. Half of the units will be reserved for homeless or recently homeless people, and the rest is aimed at downtown workers making $20,000 to $25,000 a year.

"Seventh and H is a very important part of the larger solution of affordable housing," said Rich Ciraulo, project manager for Mercy Housing in West Sacramento.

Work began March 17 to remove remnants of a building that once housed the Sacramento Police Department's patrol station and police academy. The Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency, a project partner, bought the land from the city in 2008. The agency then donated the land, worth $3.1 million, and tore down the old building to allow for new construction.

Demolition crews from contractor J.R. Roberts/Deacon of Citrus Heights were still pulling foundation debris out of the ground Monday. The soil will be recompacted, then new foundation construction will begin.

The concrete-frame building will use concrete and steel-reinforced piles that are 65 to 70 feet deep to avoid pile driving in land next to an electric substation that powers the Capitol and a large part of downtown, Ciraulo said.

"SMUD (Sacramento Municipal Utility District) has been warning us all along to be very careful," he added.

Architects Mogavero Notestine Associates of Sacramento and SERA Architects of Portland designed the building. The exterior will be covered with tan brick and metal panels. Second-floor roof gardens are included in the design. The cost increased from $41 million to include a full solar panel array on the roof, a solar water-heating system, a larger health clinic and other features.

Support services will include programs on health, education, community integration and finances. The Effort, a Sacramento nonprofit health services provider, will offer primary health and behavioral health services in a 5,200-square-foot clinic located in the building on H Street.

Construction is expected to be complete in October 2012. Six months prior, Mercy will start interviewing prospective tenants with help from local nonprofits and agencies that work with the homeless. Mercy Housing also will enlist real estate brokers to find restaurant tenants for two other ground-floor spaces on Seventh Street.

Mercy Housing and SHRA cobbled together $21.7 million in federal low-income housing tax credits through the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee, about $20 million in redevelopment funding – which includes tax increment affordable housing set-aside funds – plus other funding from the Federal Home Loan Banks and the California Housing Finance Agency.

"When you put it in the context of what's going on with the larger economy and what's going on with affordable housing right now, it's very exciting to have it be a reality," Ciraulo said.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter at The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

Community honors Grantland Johnson

2011-03-21T02:10:42Z

Close to 150 people braved the rain Saturday afternoon and came to the Hagginwood Community Center for the dedication of the Grantland Johnson Soccer Field.

“It’s quite an honor, I must tell you,” said Grantland Johnson to the crowd crammed inside the lobby of the community center.

A native resident of Sacramento’s Del Paso Heights neighborhood, Johnson graduated from Grant High School where he played for the Pacers football team. He received his B.A. Degree from Sacramento State in Government and later received honorary Doctorates of Humane Letters from both Sacramento State and Golden Gate University.

“I would not be the person I am today, had I not grown up in this great community of Del Paso Heights. I am so blessed and fortunate to have grown up in Del Paso Heights,” said Johnson.

Hagginwood Park was brought into the City of Sacramento when it merged with North Sacramento in 1964. It is where Johnson played baseball as a youth.

“A lot of folks I met, literally for the first time, out on the baseball field,” said Johnson.

Johnson went on to serve in offices at the city, county, state, and federal levels. He served as a member of the Sacramento City Council representing District 2 from 1983 to 1986. He then served as a member of the Sacramento Count Board of Supervisors representing District 1 from 1987 to 1993, when he was appointed by the Clinton administration as Director for the U.S Department of Health & Human Services overseeing Region IX from 1993 to 1998.

Johnson served as the Cabinet Secretary for the California Health & Human Services Agency during the Administration of former Governor Gray Davis from 1999 to 2003.

“It was a pleasure to work with Grantland,” said former Sacramento Mayor Anne Rudin. “I was so impressed with his understanding of policy issues, his ability to work with other people, his willingness to give and take a little.”

“His priorities were always right.”

When it was his turn to speak, Johnson returned the favor.

“She really reached out to me and worked with me to be an effective member of the council,” said Johnson. “Mayor Rudin is a person of supreme principle.”

“I learned from her the importance of building relationships to get things done. I want to say, Mayor Rudin, how much you mean to me, how much I respect you and honor you, but I think you’re much too modest in terms of the impact you’ve had on this community.”

“I can tell you personally the impact you’ve had over me, and I’m deeply grateful and I cherish your friendship.”

Johnson’s time serving the public allowed him to cross paths and influence several of today’s high-profile public officials.

“We take for granted that Sacramento has this great neighborhood-movement”, said State Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, who began serving as a Sacramento City Councilmember while Grantland served on the Board of Supervisors.

“We take for granted that the City and the school districts work together in the joint uses is the way we work together. We think the fact that we now connect economic development and job creation and the neighborhood movement. Back in 1992, none of that was really a reality, and wasn’t even the way of thinking, and the person who was really on the forefront of all of that was Grantland Johnson.”

“This recognition is not only very appropriate, but it’s necessary to recognize how far we’ve come as a community in 20 years and who was on the front-end and front-line when that happened.”

Assemblymember Roger Dickinson, who was Johnson’s successor as County Supervisor, reminisced about their work to bring light rail to Sacramento.

“I was privileged to join Grantland for a period of time on the Regional Transit Board in those early days of the 1980s when we were working to bring light rail transit, what was a new idea to Sacramento, which was really an old concept brought back to life,” said Dickinson.

“How far ahead of so many of us Grantland was with regard to making sure that we on the leading edge in transportation for those who most needed it and relied on it in our community.”

The soccer field is just one part of a planned makeover of Hagginwood Park to include a new play areas, an arbor structure, a skate park, a dog park, new basketball courts, and an outdoor theatre.

“Hagginwood was one of the focuses of a study that was done about two years ago about public safety in our parks and making parks like Hagginwood centers of our neighborhoods,” said City Parks and Recreation Commissioner Jonathan Rewers.

“The soccer field is another part to make this park a jewel within the city’s park system.”

Said Councilmember Sandy Sheedy: “It’s a professional soccer field, the first in this area. It’s already rented through the first of the year. It’s always going to be busy, and it’s always going to know the name ‘Grantland Johnson’ on it.”

New soccer field is dedicated to Grantland Johnson in Hagginwood Park by councilwoman Sandy Sheedy and Hagginwood community

2011-03-17T16:23:57Z

City Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy, along with the Hagginwood community, will be gathering Saturday in honor of a new soccer field recently constructed in Hagginwood Park.

The soccer field will be named after Grantland Johnson, a former city councilman and county supervisor representing all of North Sacramento.

“We’re expecting about 60-100 people will show up,” said Jim Cones, director for Sacramento’s Parks and Recreation Department. “Recently we had a grand opening of a park in North Sacramento, and there were several hundred people.”

Cones said the plan to implement the soccer field came from a survey that was conducted in 2008.

“Some of the parks in the city were not as safe as they should be, so the community did surveys, and the No. 1 recommendation from the community was to reconstruct Hagginwood Park,” Cones said.

As part of the master plan to re-design Hagginwood Park, a new soccer field has been provided as an effort to make positive changes in the community.

“The park will be used to promote positive things and leave less of an opportunity for negative influences like drugs or gang violence,” Cones said.

In addition to the need for positive influences within the community, there was a lack of soccer fields for use in North Sacramento.

Sheedy said the soccer field can be rented throughout the year and has been built to meet the needs of the residents in Hagginwood.

The funding for this project was provided by both the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency and the Department of Parks and Recreation.

“SHRA contributed $1 million and our budget was $1.3 million,” Cones said.

Johnson grew up in Del Paso Heights and graduated from Grant High School, where he was a
member of the Grant Pacers football team and played baseball on what has now become the Grantland Johnson soccer field.

“It’s the community’s way of thanking Grantland Johnson for his contributions to this city and state,” Sheedy said.

The grand opening of the new soccer field will be at Hagginwood Park from 1 - 2:30 p.m. Saturday. The park is located at 3271 Marysville Blvd.

Cones said the reconstruction of Hagginwood Park is just beginning. There are still new restrooms to be built, parking lots to be redesigned, and a makeover of the entire playground to be done.

SHRA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR HONORED AS NCBW BUSINESS WOMAN OF THE YEAR

2010-11-25T00:16:58Z

La Shelle Dozier, Executive Director of the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency has been named Business Woman of the Year by the Sacramento chapter of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women.

“I am truly humbled to be chosen for this wonderful award,” said Ms. Dozier. “I feel privileged to be in a position that allows me to make a positive difference for people who are most in need of help to better their lives. I could not have achieved this honor without the support of my wonderful family and the dedication of those with whom I am fortunate to work with SHRA.”

Ms. Dozier oversees redevelopment and community development strategies in the City and County of Sacramento, and the provision of housing for more than 50,000 low income residents. She administers a $269 million budget and a workforce of 291 employees.

According to the NCBW, the awards luncheon has been the philanthropic arm of the Sacramento Chapter since the event debuted in 2001. The event supports educational programs, public service campaigns and scholarships.

More than 100 nominees were considered for Women of Excellence awards in two special categories: Business/Business Woman of the Year and a Lifetime Achievement Award. The luncheon brings together business and community leaders who gather to celebrate the accomplishments of their colleagues and was attended by nearly 600 participants.

State to take millions from SHRA

2010-11-18T02:34:12Z

The city of Sacramento and advocates for local governments are cheering the passage of a state ballot measure that bans the state from taking or borrowing local funds.

However, the new measure does not eliminate the $4 million the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency owes the state in May 2011, according to the California Redevelopment Association.

California voters’ approval of Proposition 22 on Nov. 2 helps the city while the state continues to face budget troubles, said Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson.

The state is now looking at a $6 billion budget shortfall during the current fiscal year, said H.D. Palmer, deputy director of external affairs for the California Department of Finance. In the next fiscal year, the state’s projected deficit is at least $19 billion, he said.

“When I hear the projections of the state deficit going up a little higher than people anticipated, that’s not good for anybody,” Johnson said at his weekly press conference on Tuesday. “But (Prop. 22) allows us to have a little more comfort and security, knowing that they no longer are allowed to take our dollars to balance their budget.”

Palmer noted that Prop 22 will cost California $1 billion in the current fiscal year, according to the state Legislative Analyst’s Office.

“The total annual fiscal effect from these changes is not possible to determine, but could range from about $1 billion (in most years) to several billion dollars (in some years),” according to the Legislative Analyst’s report on Prop. 22.

Voters passed Prop. 22 with 60 percent of the vote.

Under the measure’s rules, the state can no longer take redevelopment property tax funds. It also bans the state from funding schools with property taxes from local governments. The state also won’t be able to use fuel tax revenues that go to local governments.

In one local government example, the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency was required to give $19.6 million to the state in May, said John Shirey, executive director of the California Redevelopment Association. In May 2011, SHRA will have to pay another $4 million to the state, he said. Even though Prop. 22 is now in effect, it has retroactive language requiring the payments to be made in May, 2011.

The California Redevelopment Association is fighting the state in a lawsuit that’s currently at the Third District Court of Appeal in Sacramento, he said. The lawsuit aims to reverse 2009 state budget legislation that allowed the state to fund schools with $2 billion in local redevelopment funds from most of the state’s redevelopment agencies, according to Shirey. The $19.6 million that SHRA paid last year and the $4 million it owes in May made up SHRA’s share of the $2 billion.

Shirey had harsh words for the state: “There’s no borrowing here; it’s straight theft.”

Photo by Brandon Darnell.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Tribe monitors building sites

2010-11-17T01:39:56Z

Native Americans are working more closely with the city of Sacramento these days to protect remains or artifacts discovered at downtown construction sites.

The Shingle Springs Band of Miwoks is expected to be on hand to monitor digging or other soil disturbance and to collaborate with archaeologists if bones, ashes, grave goods or other cultural artifacts are found at the future Powerhouse Science Center site, under an agreement approved last week by the Sacramento City Council.

At least one representative of the band was also observing at a vacant lot at Seventh and H streets last week when archaeologists did site testing prior to construction there. Mercy Housing and the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency are planning to build the city's newest single-resident occupancy housing project there next year.

Once test results come back, SHRA and the Native American band will work out an agreement for construction monitoring based on what is found there, said SHRA Environmental Coordinator Shelly Amrhein.

"We're definitely trying to be proactive about these types of issues," Amrhein said. "We're really trying to make sure it is coordinated properly."

But that wasn't always the case. Conflicts arose in 2004 and 2005 after Native American remains were uncovered during construction of the new City Hall and Sacramento Regional Transit District's relocation of utility lines for light rail tracks on H Street.

A Native American monitor was brought in to work with an archaeologist on the latter only after work crews sheared off the back of a human skull.

On the Powerhouse project, SHRA took the lead on developing a Cultural Resources Treatment and Monitoring Agreement with the Miwok band because the agency is contributing federal Community Development Block Grant funds to the $45 million project. That makes SHRA the responsible entity under the National Environmental Policy Act.

The first on-site work is expected to start next spring. At that time, sidewalks will be built and Jibboom Street will be repaved as part of the city's I-5 interim project. After that, crews will do minimal excavating in the building, which is owned by the city.

Under the agreement, all work must stop within 50 meters of any spot where a suspected burial site, darkened soil or midden is found. A midden, once used as a rubbish site, could contain bones or artifacts. An archaeologist must be called in to determine the significance of the discovery.

All work on the entire site must stop if a human bone or bone of unknown origin is found. The county coroner must then be brought in. If the remains are determined to be Native American, the coroner must notify the California Native American Heritage Commission, a Sacramento-based agency whose job it is to notify the most likely descendants. The descendants must work with the contractor to plan the best way to rebury the remains and any artifacts found with them.

The agreement covers Native American human remains, including bones, bone fragments and ashes; grave goods; funerary items; ceremonial items; other cultural items and animal remains. Any worker who discovers such items must turn them over to the tribe, which may be done through an archaeologist.

The agreement allows Native Americans to be out at the site whenever soil is disturbed, even before anything is found. Typically, one or two people will be at the site, said AmyAnn Taylor, general counsel for the tribe.

The tribe's ancestors lived right along the Sacramento River. So the Powerhouse site is a sensitive area, she said.

However, some of the soil there was replaced during previous work to put in monitoring wells and clay caps. The Seventh and H streets site appears to be even more sensitive than the Powerhouse site because of that, and because the other remains were found nearby in recent years, Amrhein said.

The tribe has worked diligently with the city to be able to go in and retrieve remains or artifacts that may be uncovered. Tribe members are confident they'll be able to reach agreements about how to proceed in a way that won't alter any construction plans, Taylor said.

"The relationship we've reached with SHRA and the city – we’re committed to working together on any of those types of issues if they come up," she said. "We feel like, no matter what, we can achieve something that is mutually beneficial."

HUD response on SHRA fund use coming

2010-10-09T01:01:01Z

A regional dispute over $6.4 million in federal neighborhood redevelopment funds has been kicked up to the national level, where a resolution may be found early next month.

Regional officials with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development disagree on the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency's use of Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds. The money was provided under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 to help states and communities buy, rehab and sell foreclosed or abandoned homes.

HUD awarded $4 billion of those funds in the program’s first phase. The goal was to stabilize or revitalize neighborhoods and prevent home prices from falling. More than $18.6 million was earmarked for Sacramento County in January 2009.

HUD's regional Office of the Inspector General in June released an audit recommending SHRA repay $1.1 million used to rehab five small apartment buildings at Norcade Circle and Lerwick Road.

The inspector general, an independent watchdog, deemed the buildings ineligible because the developer already owned them. The amount of money used to rehab those and three other properties was too high, according to a copy of the audit.

The inspector general's office also recommended SHRA make changes to ensure that construction costs aren't "overinflated" and no unnecessary work is funded. Such changes could enable SHRA to redirect $5.3 million to other projects, according to the audit.

The audit was turned over to HUD's regional Office of Community Planning and Development in San Francisco for review and a response by early October. That office didn't agree with the audit, so the matter was bumped up to the Office of Community Planning and Development in Washington, D.C.

A response from the federal level is expected within 30 days, according to Brian Sullivan, public affairs supervisor for HUD in Washington, D.C.

Photo by Brandon Darnell.

Housing and Redevelopment Agency partnership renovates foreclosed home with NSP funds

2010-07-08T21:31:43Z

The first foreclosed home purchased by the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency is under renovation and will soon be for sale and occupancy at an affordable price under a partnership program that SHRA developed using the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program. The home is located at 3525 34th Street in Oak Park.

SHRA has partnered with NeighborWorks Homeownership Sacramento as a volume builder under the Property Recycling Program. The PRP works with governmental, non-profit and for-profit partners to provide access to properties and funding to remove the blight of foreclosures through redevelopment activities, acquisition and rental of affordable housing, and acquisition and rehabilitation of single family homes for sale throughout Sacramento. The PRP is complimentary to the other programs funded under the NSP, all of which seek to reduce the impacts of foreclosures.

“This partnership program is a huge a win-win effort for Sacramento’s neighborhoods ravaged by foreclosure, vacant properties and parcels, and investors who have no connection to the community,” said SHRA Executive Director La Shelle Dozier. “We’re working with organizations whose mission mirrors our own which is to invest in areas where the market alone cannot ensure change and to provide affordable housing opportunities that help hard-working, deserving families realize the American dream.”

SHRA officials say that over the next year, the Agency will be collaborating with NeighborWorks Sacramento to renovate and resell approximately 30 homes like this first home which the Agency purchased from Wells Fargo through the National Stabilization Community Trust. The NCST is designed to facilitate the transfer of foreclosed and abandoned properties
from financial institutions nationwide to local governments to promote productive property reuse and neighborhood stability.

“Under the NCST, Wells Fargo also provided an investment of $750,000 to NeighborWorks which leveraged other funds to buy the property,” said Chris Pahule, Assistant Director of Housing and Community Development. “With this partnership strategy, modest income families will have great opportunities to buy quality, energy efficient homes.”

SHRA is administering $3 million in NSP funds allocated to the PRP. To date, 59 properties have been acquired and six are under construction. The Agency estimates the program will address 100 properties over the next five years.

More on Big Brother

2010-05-12T23:18:56Z

Following my remarks in my commentary Big Brother or Big Bully, a reader complained that the former Franklin Villa had nothing to do with the article about rental home inspections.

My thrust there was to point out how the city council members, going back several administrations, have had the policy of sitting in the back room and making sub rosa decisions that affect you, me and our pocketbooks. Then they bring these matters out in public meetings where they have to allow concerned citizens their three minutes, and not a second more. When all this is done, they go ahead and pass what they had already decided on in their clandestine meetings.

Where does Franklin Villa come in? The city first designated it as a target area and moved hundreds of subsized low-income families into homes built for adults. The children had no place to play and the cavernous garages provided fertile ground for drug deals, prostitution and the ever present crap games. Crime did run rampant.

Now that the city caused this problem, and the police cried that they had no way to control the crime, the city took steps to condemn the area and collect all the subsidized rents for itself. They forced the landlords out. Admittedly, some were slumlords, but a perfunctory stroll through the area could have convinced any passerby that the slumlords weren't the real problem.

Next, the city plunged EIGHTY-FOUR MILLION TAXPAYER DOLLARS into the area. I don't remember being asked what I thought about that. I don't remember being asked to vote on the matter.

And what did we get for our $84 million? Drive by and take a look for yourself. Is the city going to charge itself $28 per unit to have its own units inspected? Crime? Where before the city encouraged the media to refer to the are as crime-infested, crime-ridden, etd., now it doesn't refer to the area at all. Phoenix Park is a model community. All the crime that occurs in South Sacramento simply occurs in South Sacramento.

Would you as a renter want a city inspector to come in and snoop around in your house? What if he turns up your stash? Will he steal it, confisacte it, or inform the police. Once inside, who knows what mischief he may get into. If you're a propery owner, do you want to sit around your tenant's house for 4 hours waiting until the inspector shows up? What if he's like the Dish Network guy who calls and says he's running a bit late. Just another hour or so. Does your tenant want you hanging around in his rental?

There's a lot o food for thought in the city's new Code Enforcement Program. We'd better chew on it.

Big Brother or Big Bully?

2010-05-12T04:04:10Z

In a follow-up to my earlier comments on the new program implemented by the Sacramento City Council, I’d like to add a little more detail. The city has granted itself the authority to enter all rental homes in the city for annual inspections. All landlords must comply. Of course, there is a fee for those who comply and a fine for those who hesitate. I’d like to add that further investigation shows that it will be incumbent on every property owner to inform the city that he/she has a rental unit and pay an annual fee for the privilege. Oh, and one more detail: The owner must live within 35 miles of city hall, or have a representative who does.

I feel that for the city to enter rental properties to inspect them is illegal and unconstitutional. True, many renters may be without air conditioning, lack ample hot water and/or suffer other unpleasant living conditions, but in most cases, their rents reflect that, and most tenants already know that they can call Code Enforcement if they have a problem their landlord fails to address.
If an owner is forced to spend money to bring his property up to levels the city, in its wisdom, may consider acceptable, and pay someone to live within 35 miles of city hall, then he's going to raise the rent considerably and lose the tenant, who may end up in a shelter made of cardboard down by the railroad tracks.
In the early '80s, the city created what it called target areas, areas in which rents for poorer citizens were subsidized. One of the target areas, which the city and media constantly referred to the former Franklin Villa as “troubled Franklin Villa” or “crime-ridden Franklin Villa," “crime plagued” “crime infested” and so on. How did it get that way? The city filled these units, which were built for adults, with poor families. Many of these were families without fathers, and paroled convicts immediately began moving in. With no playgrounds, the alleys swarmed with children and the area became a typical ghetto, complete with gang graffiti, trash, toys, abandoned vehicles, and an area in which role models for the children drove flashy black BMWs and wore purple homburgs. The police department gave up, saying it could not control crime in the area.

In its next move, the city condemned these condos in South Sacramento. The city realized that instead of letting the Sacramento Housing & Redevelopment Agency subsidize the landlords, it could take over and keep the rents and subsidies for itself. Nothing looks any better now than it did 10 years ago, except that with some reconstruction the area conforms more to our idea of an old-fashioned housing project. The media keeps a low profile and no longer dares mention “troubled” or “crime-ridden” in connection with this area. In fact, it never mentions the area. At best, shootings and so forth take place somewhere in South Sacramento, a much larger and less specific area.

I believe this is an egregious and indefensible encroachment on our personal freedom.

That's just my opinion.

From Code Enforcement’s website:

Rental Housing Inspection Program Outline
All rental housing units are required to register with the City of Sacramento
Properties must have a registered local contact representative within 35 miles of Sacramento City Hall
Property owners are billed the Rental Housing Inspection Program fee of $28 on an annual basis.
All parcels with rental housing units will be inspected within the first five-year program cycle
Properties with violations require the owner makes necessary repairs in 30 days
Properties with no violations may be eligible for the Self-certification Program
Approximately 5% of the properties in the Self-certification Program will be audited at random each year
Owners of properties in the Self-certification Program must perform their own annual inspections and inspect each unit when there is a change in tenant
Rental housing units that are less than 5 years old or inspected by another agency may be exempt from the program

Rental Housing Inspection Program Fee: $28 per unit, billed annually
Rescheduling Fee $80
Re-inspection Fee (for continuing violations)$150 per inspection

Affordable housing defined

2010-05-04T04:05:34Z

Everyone wants "affordable" housing. But few people know what that is.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has defined affordable housing as no more than 30 percent of a household's income.

That means you shouldn't be paying more than 30 percent of your income for housing — whether mortgage payments or rent — plus utilities each month.

"People think affordable housing means just one thing. But it doesn't," said Sandra Hamameh, program director for the Sacramento Housing Alliance. "It means being able to afford a place to live, at whatever stage you're in in your life."

Levels of affordability are also based on an area's median incomes. The median incomes for Sacramento County, based on 2009 figures, are $50,950 for a single person, $58,250 for a two-person household and $72,800 for a family of four.

For housing to be affordable, that single person should pay no more than $1,274 per month; the couple, or parent and child, household shouldn't pay more than $1,456; and the family of four should pay $1,820 or less, according to the California Department of Housing and Community Development.

Income levels that fall below the median include low income, very low income and extremely low income.

Low incomes are those at 80 percent of the median:
• $40,800 for a single person, making affordable housing no more than $1,020 a month;
• $46,600 for two people, and $1,165 a month for affordable housing;
• $58,250 for four people, and $1,456 a month for housing.

Very low incomes are those at 50 percent of the median:
• $25,500 for a single person, and $637 a month for affordable housing;
• $29,100 for two, and $727 a month for housing;
• $36,400 for four, and $910 a month for housing.

Extremely low incomes are those at 30 percent of the median:
• $15,300 for a single person, and $382 a month for housing;
• $17,500 for two, and $437 a month for housing;
• $21,850 for four, and $546 a month for housing.

Affordable housing may include subsidized housing projects such as multi-family apartments or single-family homes built or leased through public-private programs.

Single-resident occupancy units, or SROs, boarding houses and other arrangements offer housing for extremely low-income residents, but little of such housing exists, said Hamameh.

HUD has a housing choice voucher program known as Section 8 for elderly and disabled people, very low-income families, and homeless or otherwise-eligible veterans. Recipients use the vouchers to rent or buy housing.

Extremely low-income housing may also be occupied by people whose only income comes from monthly supplemental security income (SSI), Social Security or disability checks. A person getting $474 monthly SSI checks can afford rent of no more $142. A widow who now gets $718 a month in Social Security and $240 from her husband's retirement fund can afford rent of $287, Hamameh said.

In 2010, fair market rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Sacramento County is $852, according to HUD. Some people who can't find safe, quality affordable housing end up renting from private owners who still charge "fair market rate" for substandard housing, said Hamameh, whose organization has been advocating for affordable housing since 1989.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Read the story about the proposal for the biggest SRO in Sacramento here .

A life-changing home for homeless, working poor

2010-05-04T04:05:00Z

A proposal is in the works to create one of the largest permanent supportive housing projects in the city.

The $41 million building at Seventh and H streets also is poised to become the city's newest single-resident occupancy, or SRO, structure. The infill project would feature sustainable design and materials, so the developers and architects will ask the U.S. Green Building Council to certify it as a sustainable building.

But perhaps most unique about the public-private project being developed by Mercy Housing and the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency is that it would offer support services to formerly homeless people in innovative and mixed-population permanent housing. Its architects are Mogavero Notestine Associates of Sacramento and SERA Architects of Portland.

Half of the mid-rise's 150 units will be set aside as for homeless people. The other half will become home to the working poor: low-income workers who earn 40 percent to 50 percent of the median income, or $20,000 to $25,000 a year.

The 7th and H Mixed-Use Affordable Housing project differs from transitional housing, such as Mercy Housing's Quinn Cottages, which provide up to two years of transitional housing close to downtown.

"We (represent) that next step, to what is now permanent supportive housing. You don't have to leave," said Rich Ciraulo, project manager for Mercy Housing in West Sacramento. "Instead, you are put in an environment where there are a lot of supportive services and community building, and an attempt to really support your reconnection to the rest of society."

Supportive programs will focus on health, education, community integration and finances.

An on-site 3,800-square-foot, federally qualified health clinic will serve residents and the public. The Effort, a Sacramento nonprofit health services provider, will operate primary health and behavioral health services.

Doctors, nurses and physician assistants will provide health screenings, immunizations, lab work and other medical care. At least one licensed clinical social worker will provide therapeutic counseling and recovery support groups will have a space to meet.

Mercy Services Corporation will handle property management. Three on-site resident service coordinators, working as case managers, will connect tenants with community resources and on-site services.

By working with other service organizations, the service coordinators will identify people who qualify as homeless. They would come directly from transitional housing, including emergency shelters, or off the street. Tenants for other units would have to qualify based on income, Ciraulo said.

Two property managers will also work on site. The building's entrance will be secure, with tenants and guests checking in with 24-hour front desk clerks.

Residents will have access to tutoring, computer classes and leadership training, as well as career counseling and financial literacy and planning. They also will have opportunities to work within the broader community via volunteering, community watch groups and other programs. An on-site job-training program is being explored, Ciraulo said.

Public spaces are vital for building a sense of community and encouraging people to get out of their units and interact with neighbors, he said.

Inside, the project's public-space centerpiece will be a community room with an adjacent communal kitchen — a large gathering place where residents can hang out and bond at events like Thanksgiving dinner. Three smaller lounges will be on alternating floors of the eight-story building.

"You really want to feel like you're invested in where you live and who your neighbors are, and like this is a very special place to live," Ciraulo said.

Outside public spaces also will improve residents' quality of life and give them access to fresh air in private settings, he said. Two second-floor roof gardens will be for residents' exclusive use. Each lounge will have a balcony facing Seventh Street.

The building also will have a computer room. While some money has been budgeted for equipment, Mercy Housing is trying to get computers donated.

Mercy is proposing ground-floor retail such as a cafe or bakery, that would be an amenity to the neighborhood, Ciraulo said.

The project is being designed to fill a gap in care for homeless people who were getting help with health, mental health and substance abuse issues while on the street. Tenants will be able to receive those services onsite instead or be connected with new services.

"It's really critical that services are matched if you're trying to house homeless or formerly homeless people," said Tim Brown, director of Sacramento Steps Forward, a nonprofit formerly known as the Ending Chronic Homelessness Initiative.

The project also is designed to help people working at low-wage jobs downtown by providing housing close to their jobs, Ciraulo said.

Sacramento has some mixed-population, supportive-housing developments, such as one near Arden Fair Mall. This one is being modeled after Portland's Richard L. Harris Building at 8 NW 8th St., which has won awards for affordable housing innovations and integrating housing and social services. SERA Architects designed that project.

The building is intended to create 122 of the 200 SRO units the city must replace by 2011, under its own ordinance, said Christine Weichert, assistant director of housing and community development for SHRA.

Sitting behind the Sacramento County Jail, the project at Seventh and H streets would include 122 studios measuring 325 square feet that rent for $206 to $581, and 28 one-bedroom units for $207 to $619. Both would have full kitchens and bathrooms, unlike standard SROs, which usually have kitchenettes and communal bathrooms, Ciraulo said.

Rent will be income-based. Mercy Housing will target people on Social Security or disability for most units. Whether tenants are formerly homeless or low-wage workers, they will pay 30 percent of their income, he said.

In the 1970s, Sacramento had about 3,000 SRO units. A 2006 city ordinance called for no net loss of the remaining 712 SRO units.

"Preservation of the SROs is vital to including a much-needed piece in the housing continuum," said Sandra Hamameh, program director for the Sacramento Housing Alliance.

Proposals call for the project to be largely publicly funded. Mercy, which is quite possibly the largest provider of service-enriched housing in the area, and SHRA are going after local, state and federal funding, including highly competitive federal tax credits, Weichert said.

Several sources will pay for services, including public funding and fund raising. Community services will be used as much as possible, and some services — such as those for resident service coordinators — will be integrated into the building's operating budget. About 15 percent of the operating costs would be set aside for services, Ciraulo said.

The city's Planning Commission is set to give final approval to the project May 6. The Sacramento City Council is expected to be asked to provide some funding at a June meeting, said Weichert, adding that the amount will be determined within two weeks.

Developers hope to have financing in place by September. If so, construction could begin by February. The building would be expected to open by October 2013.

With its mix of housing and support services, the project would keep a wider range of people with different income levels downtown, said Robert Tobin, president and chief executive officer of Cottage Housing, which operates the Quinn Cottages at 16th and North A streets.

"This is a population that is vulnerable," he said. "It really helps if you can have some support on site."

Graphic provided by Mercy Housing. Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter covering business and development for The Sacramento Press.

Read more about what defines affordable housing here

Oak Park business leader runs for District 5 seat

2010-04-03T03:18:37Z

Terrence Johnson said he wants Oak Park and surrounding South Sacramento neighborhoods to have more clout in City Council decision-making.

“I felt as though the (District 5) neighborhoods didn’t have a voice,” he said.

Johnson, 58, is one of five candidates competing for the seat held by Councilwoman Lauren Hammond. In addition to Oak Park, District 5 includes the neighborhoods of Curtis Park, Colonial Heights and Tahoe Park West.

The Sacramento Press is interviewing City Council candidates in advance of the June 8 election.

Johnson is a 20-year Sacramento resident and the executive director of the Oak Park Business Association and the Stockton Boulevard Partnership. He is chairman of the Redevelopment Advisory Committee of the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency. Johnson is also a window installation contractor.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from California State University, Sacramento, in 1975.

Jobs and the economy are the most pressing issues in District 5, he said.

Johnson acknowledged the city’s budget gap — about $40 million — but said the district still needs to bring ideas for projects to the City Council. That way, when the city distributes funds, those projects can be considered.

He noted the city is focusing on some projects outside District 5, such as the planned downtown arena and entertainment center.

Johnson said he would continue to push for economic development in the district even if he does not win the City Council seat. The district has few job openings and has suffered because of the subprime mortgage foreclosure crisis, he added.

“The secondary mortgage market was like a bomb in the South Area,” Johnson said, adding that training for green jobs would help neighborhoods.

He has raised $9,430 for his campaign. Of District 5 candidates, Patrick Kennedy has raised the most money, $109, 684.

Jay Schenirer’s campaign has $82, 712, Henry Harry has $808 and Leticia Hilbert has raised less than $1,000, according to Assistant City Clerk Stephanie Mizuno.

An article about District 1 candidate Angelique Ashby can be found here. Information about District 1 candidate Efren Guttierrez's campaign is here. District 3 candidate Chris Little is profiled here. Read about District 1 candidate Shawn Eldredge here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Officials, company careful with demolition

2009-12-22T05:12:13Z

The final demolition of a former Sacramento police building has been halted again while concerns over an adjacent power station are worked out.

Advantage Demolition was preparing to demonstrate Monday how the last two exterior walls could be pulled down safely next to transformers at a historic power station, now known as SMUD Station A, at Sixth and H streets. The station, whose origins date to 1895, supplies power to up to 40 percent of downtown Sacramento, said Sacramento Municipal Utility District spokesperson Dace Udris.

Demolition of the building at Seventh and H streets began several months ago to make way for a 160-unit affordable housing project being built by the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency, Mercy Housing California and Mogavero Notestine Associates. Demolition was suspended until Monday, when officials from SHRA, SMUD and the city visited the site to watch a demolition demonstration. The work was halted for further discussion of the process that will be used.

"SMUD is uncomfortable, and I understand why," said Robert Scott of Advantage Demolition, a family-run company based in Eldorado Hills.

The company's most technical demolition jobs are handled by Scott and his uncle Peter Scott, who owns the business. For this building, Robert Scott will put 13 years of experience to work running the excavator, which will pull the concrete block walls into the interior of what's left of the building, he said. The exterior was built to resemble brick.

After Christmas, the Scotts will meet with officials to address concerns and to demonstrate the technique on a roughly 26-foot section of wall facing H Street. The most concern arose over the possibility concrete chunks could fly out from the other wall, which runs along one side of the substation, and hit electrical equipment. The company will install tarps between the substation and the wall to control debris, Robert Scott said.

"I've been in this situation many times," he said. "I have yet to have an accident."

The demolition could be completed within days once the go-ahead is given. Demolishing the rest of the walls should take a few hours. Prepping — installing tarps and making the site safe — will take a day, while cleanup will take two to three days, Scott said.

For years, the building under demolition was the city's patrol station. Patrol officers were based there, while patrol cars were housed in a garage where the federal courthouse now sits. Police administration headquarters were located at the site of the present Sacramento County Public Law Library, said Sacramento Police Department spokesperson Norm Leong.

In 1994, the building was converted into the city's first non-live-in police academy. Forensics also was based there. The building had so much history for Sacramento police that some officers grabbed concrete "bricks" as mementos once it started coming down, Leong said.

"There's history there," he said.

SHRA is overseeing the nine-story project to build one-bedroom and studio apartments, along with ground-floor retail and a clinic, to replace low-income, single-residency occupancy units on K Street Mall or elsewhere downtown and to help develop permanent supportive housing for chronically homeless people. The tenants would be primarily single people with low-wage jobs. Mercy Housing California hopes to establish one-third to half of the units for "special needs" tenants who have been homeless or at-risk in other ways, according to an SHRA staff report.

SHRA temporarily closes, moves

2009-12-18T06:14:29Z

Most Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency departments will be closed and most employees will be off for the rest of the holidays, beginning Friday, while the agency moves to a new downtown location.

The two-week closure is needed partly because cash-strapped California is requiring the agency to pay $25 million to state schools in 2010 and 2011, said La Shelle Dozier, SHRA executive director.

In July, the state passed a budget directing city and county redevelopment agencies to pay $2.05 billion in redevelopment funds to the Supplemental Education Reimbursement Augmentation Fund to help address state budget shortfalls.

The agency's Public Housing operations — the Housing Choice Voucher and Conventional Housing programs — will remain open. The rest of its departments will be closed from Friday until Jan. 5. At that time, about 130 employees currently working at five different locations will begin working in the agency's new headquarters, 801 12th St., said agency spokesperson Angela Jones.

"The movers are in our offices right now," she said Thursday afternoon.

SHRA is a city/county joint powers authority created to develop affordable housing, serve as the local housing authority and oversee commercial and residential redevelopment.

Most of the agency's staff and departments, including executive and administrative offices, have been located on three floors of a mixed-use building at 630 I St. since at least the early 1980s, she said. The building also contains senior housing in Riverview Plaza apartments. Other SHRA departments will be consolidated from locations at 1013 7th St., 320 Commerce Circle and elsewhere in the 600 block of I Street.

Housing authority staff and the Housing Choice Voucher program will remain at 701 12th St., Jones said.

In June 2008, the agency bought a $9 million, six-story building at 12th and H streets that had housed multiple tenants in about 61,000 square feet. The move was timed to take advantage of the traditional holiday slow-down.

"That kind of makes it convenient for us to get all these departments moved," said Jones.

The agency did not provide information about whether employees would be on paid leave or required to take unpaid leave, in addition to paid holidays, during this time.

City to decide on fate of Bel-Vue Apartments and Berry Hotel today

2009-08-11T08:36:49Z

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 project would destroy all surviving structures on the project site. In addition to the landmark Bel-Vue, the 1895 Feldhusen Building and the circa 1910 Sam's Club building would be demolished, although neither has the status of city landmark.

The proposed project would also demolish two half-blocks of Sacramento's underground sidewalks, along the corner of 8th and K Street. The sidewalks are still clearly visible from the alley, as the photograph above shows. As with the loss of the Bel-Vue, approval of this project would mean the loss of structures that, despite having fallen into disrepair and disuse, are part of the city's historic fabric. By restoring these elements instead of demolishing them, the city can maintain resources that cannot be duplicated in modern construction, and provide valuable downtown housing and a potential historic site of great tourism interest.

The staff report mentions that city staff and the developer have not been able to come to agreement on business terms, due to the low rate of return for the city and the large investment the project represents. The "Exclusive Right to Negotiate" (ERN) between the city and the developers has been extended twice in order to work out details, but city staff is still not confident in the developer's proposal. The council has been asked to advise city staff how to proceed.

Full staff report is visible here:

sacramento.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php

In slightly brighter news, at the same meeting the City Council will hear (and hopefully approve) a plan to restore the Berry Hotel, just across the street from the Bel-Vue. The hotel was acquired by the city after another developer's plan to restore the building failed last year. The hotel is currently being vacated by the city, and is almost completely vacant. This plan would restore the interior of the building, providing long-needed repairs, and reopen the Berry as permanent housing for very low income individuals. The Berry has filled this role for years, but if this plan is approved, the building will be completely renovated and restored, and a social services agency will provide a staff person to work with disabled residents. The staff report is visible here:

sacramento.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php

These two projects are almost polar opposites. The restoration of the Berry Hotel promises to bring back a city landmark, restoring to occupancy a 1920s hotel. The project will house those least able to find housing, those with very low income, and it will be completed for far less than a new project of similar scale would cost. Across the street, the Bel-Vue was occupied by tenants until shortly before it was taken over by SHRA. It will be demolished and replaced with a parking structure. The proposed hotel project will be utterly infeasible without a massive subsidy, one that a city in the throes of a financial crisis cannot afford. Perhaps the City Council will review the Berry project and consider what else they might do with the Bel-Vue, a city landmark and apartment building, for less money than the developers' subsidy.

The meeting will be held at New City Hall, 915 I Street, Sacramento, at 6:00 PM in the main council chambers.

The full city council meeting agenda is viewable here:

sacramento.granicus.com/AgendaViewer.php

(In the interest of disclosure, I oppose the demolition of the Bel-Vue and plan to attend in order to voice my opposition to the 8th & K project--and my support for the restoration of the Berry Hotel.)

City To Demolish Landmark "Bel-Vue" Building

2009-07-03T21:28:18Z

The city of Sacramento has announced its plans to demolish the Bel-Vue Apartments, a registered city landmark, in order to clear land on 8th Street for a potential future parking structure.

Located adjacent to the now-vacant corner of 8th and K Street, the Bel-Vue was built in 1910 as the American Cash Apartments. Built in the Craftsman style with Asian overtones, the three-story brick building contains apartments above a commercial ground floor. When the Bel-Vue was built, it was one of many downtown apartment buildings. If it was built today, the Bel-Vue would be described as a mixed-use, transit-oriented infill project. The building is currently owned by the city of Sacramento’s housing and redevelopment agency, the result of a complex land exchange between Mohammed “Mo” Mohanna, Z Gallerie owner Joe Zeiden, and the city of Sacramento. This land exchange was part of the currently stalled plans to rehabilitate the 700 block of K Street.

The city’s plan is to prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) containing two possible alternatives for buildings to be built on the site, and then demolish the existing buildings. One alternative is a pair of residential towers 300 feet high, running from K Street to L Street along 8th, originally proposed by former owner Mohanna and developers John Saca (of the failed 301 Capitol Mall project) and John Lambeth. The other alternative is a 300 foot hotel tower at the corner of 8th and K, currently vacant, and a six-story parking structure on the site of the Bel-Vue and the other buildings at the corner of 8th and L. There is no developer or investor specified in the EIR notice of preparation; the city of Sacramento plans to create the EIR and demolish the Bel-Vue and nearby buildings on speculation, in case a developer appears who is interested in constructing the buildings the city has proposed for the site.

When the city of Sacramento acquired the Bel-Vue building and its neighbors, it was an occupied apartment building with several retail tenants on the ground floor. There were also commercial tenants in the adjacent buildings, and apartments above most of those buildings. The city of Sacramento evicted the residents, and today only one retail establishment, a Chinese restaurant, occupies the Bel-Vue, aside from a parking garage in one of the buildings facing L Street.

All of the buildings on the site have a role in local history. 815 L Street, constructed in 1915, was most recently the site of a nightclub of the same name. In 1957, the site was one of the original Sam’s Hof Brau locations. The side of the building, invisible from the street, still bears a painted mural advertising Sam’s. La Rosa, an Italian restaurant opened in 1927, occupied the site before the Hof Brau. On the corner of 8th and L is the Feldhusen Building, a two-story building with ground floor retail and residences upstairs. It was built in 1895 and remodeled in 1954. It was home to many businesses including grocery stores, dressmakers, and the Diamond Club Tavern card room.
Buildings like the Bel-Vue were once commonplace in Sacramento, but over the years they have become very rare.

Today, some developers seek out historic buildings for residential projects, converting them into modern apartments or condominiums. Local companies like D&S Development (http://www.dandsdev.com) have completed projects like the Old Sacramento iLofts and 1409 R, and are now restoring the historic Maydestone Apartments at 16th & J Street. Architect Mike Malinowski, contractor Bruce Booher and CFY Development helped convert the Globe Mills grain mill complex into unique residential lofts. At the Railyards, developer Thomas Enterprises will make the historic Southern Pacific shops buildings the focal point of a new downtown neighborhood. Other adaptive reuse projects like the Citizen Hotel, MARRS, the Cosmopolitan and the Firestone Building show how vacant historic buildings can be made into exciting, unique urban destinations. Projects like these are often more popular than newly-built projects because they offer one-of-a-kind places to live, work and play in an urban setting. They appeal to those who want to be close to the action of the central city and their downtown workplaces, or just like the unique character of historic buildings. Instead of demolishing the Bel-Vue, the building could easily be repaired and returned to its role as a place to live, with businesses on the street to serve downtown’s residents. Restoration of historic buildings is also a greener option than new construction, as it needs far fewer building materials and requires far less landfill space (where the demolished building’s components would end up.) If sales of recent projects like the 1409 R lofts (opened in April and already two-thirds sold) are any indication, these projects are popular even in slow economic markets, while urban infill projects in new buildings are far less successful. Historic buildings can also qualify for tax credits and other incentives that can make rehabilitation cheaper than demolition and new construction. In the right hands, the Bel-Vue could be a gorgeous, attainable new home for Sacramento’s residents for another hundred years.

In recent years, the city of Sacramento has seen many proposed projects fail to materialize. The failure of projects like John Saca’s 301 Capitol Mall towers at 3rd and Capitol resulted in ugly, gaping pits in our city’s urban fabric. Projects like the 700/800 block, bogged down by unexpected resistance and a poor economy, sit languishing, waiting for a better plan to appear. Projects that encourage the demolition of landmarks encourage speculators to allow their historic downtown properties to sit vacant, deteriorating for years or even decades, with the hope of an eventual skyscraper-shaped payoff that may never arrive. More forward-thinking developers could turn the same buildings into Sacramento's urban showpieces.

No developer or investor has been named by the city to actually build this project or pay for it, and even if a developer and/or investor does arrive, if they want to make significant changes to the plan they would need to complete a new environmental document, making this effort worthless. The sacrifice of one of Sacramento’s irreplaceable historic buildings would be for nothing. And even if the city’s long shot is successful, and a developer does build the project, we will lose a historic landmark and a quarter-block of potentially useful buildings for a six-story parking garage in a neighborhood with many underutilized parking garages.

To give public comment about this issue, contact Jennifer Hageman of the City of Sacramento’s Community Development Department at jhageman@cityofsacramento.org or (916)808-5538. Written comments should be sent to Jennifer Hageman, City of Sacramento Community Development Department, 300 Richards Boulevard, Sacramento, CA 95811. Comments are due before 4:00 PM on July 27, 2009.

City To Close Historic Berry Hotel

2009-02-27T06:42:17Z

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 compared to the new motor hotels. As redevelopment changed the face of downtown Sacramento, destroying many rooming houses downtown, hotels like the Berry became more strictly residential hotels, renting almost entirely to monthly tenants. Because the rents were generally less expensive than other housing, those with the least money to spend moved into these hotels. By 1929 standards, the Berry was a comfortable and luxurious place; by the 1970s and through today, it was housing of last resort, one step above living on the street. These hotels became known as "single room occupancy" hotels, or SRO hotels.

In 2007, AF Evans and Trinity Housing purchased the Berry with the intent of renovating the hotel, but maintaining its role as an SRO. To make this project feasible, AF Evans applied for Tax Credit Allocation Committee (TCAC) low-income housing bonds. Housing developers can obtain tax credits when building low-cost housing, which helps make low-cost housing more economically feasible. A non-profit developer like AF Evans does not need tax credits, so these housing bonds can be sold to another company who needs a tax write-off. AF Evans' objective was to use the money generated by the sale of the bonds to repair the interior of the hotel, replace its aging plumbing and electrical systems, and retain almost all of its 109 rooms. A number of rooms were to be converted to ADA-accessible use, but all would be affordable units. The agreement also included provision for an on-site case manager who would provide supportive services for residents of the hotel who are disabled or senior citizens.

The current economic crisis made the sale of tax-credit bonds nearly impossible, as very few businesses are in need of a tax write-off. The bonds could not be sold, and AF Evans returned the tax-credit bonds to TCAC. They have tried to maintain the hotel, and have spent considerable time and effort figuring out how to repair the building, but the costs of repair are far greater than the income that can be generated from rents. Because they planned to vacate the hotel, rooms were not rented out as they became vacant, and the hotel currently has only about 50 tenants. Due to their inability to fund the project, AF Evans and Trinity Housing decided to give up sell the hotel to the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA) for $1.

SHRA considered several scenarios before deciding on closure. Keeping the hotel open in its current state is not possible due to the deteriorated state of the building. Carrying out the developer's plan to restore the hotel would cost about $13 million, and would still require relocation of the building's occupants while construction was underway. On February 12, the SHRA board decided that the hotel should be closed until better economic times. This plan will still cost about $2.5 million to relocate the current residents and secure the building. AF Evans had developed a relocation plan in order to temporarily move residents during the building renovation. With the ownership change, the city is now responsible for carrying out the relocation plan, but instead the move will be permanent.

The closure of the Berry means that Sacramento's stock of SRO hotel rooms will drop by 108 units. In 1986, there were over 1000 SRO units in Sacramento, down from about 4000 units in the 1960s. In 2006, the city of Sacramento passed an ordinance committing to the maintenance of the remaining 712 SRO hotel rooms in downtown Sacramento. If rooms were lost, the city of Sacramento is responsible for creating replacement units. Since the ordinance was passed, two hotels have closed, leaving about 630 units, with no replacement units built or under construction. After the Berry closes, about 520 SRO units will remain.

SRO housing is, admittedly, the housing of last resort, but in these economic times, many people are in dire need of affordable housing. If they cannot find housing they can afford, they can become homeless. As low-income housing in rooming houses and SROs has disappeared, homelessness has grown into a national epidemic. SRO hotels are often indifferently maintained, but they are preferable to a tent by the river or a spot on a park bench. As the number of SROs shrink, the number in tents or on park benches grows. Can we afford to wait until better economic times when the need for affordable housing is greatest in times like these?

Another factor in the story of the Berry is the historic nature of the building itself. The building is not listed on the current list of city landmarks, only because the city has not placed it on the existing landmarks list, which supplanted an earlier citywide list of historic buildings. Past surveys of Sacramento's historic buildings identified the Berry as a priority structure, worthy of preservation for its architectural merits and its association with Sacramento's history. Even its connection with Theodore Kaczynski, the infamous Unabomber, who briefly stayed in the Berry, adds to the building's legacy. Loss of the Berry Hotel would rob our city of part of its architectural heritage, as well as a home for 108 people with few other options for housing.

There is another alternative to allowing the Berry to sit vacant, at risk for another fire like the one that destroyed the buildings at the corner of 8th &K, or those on 9th & J years earlier. Compared to new construction, $13 million for 108 units of very low income housing is practically a bargain price. Because restoration of historic buildings requires more labor than materials, a restoration project would mean more jobs for Sacramento construction workers than a new project of similar size, and require far less consumption of raw material than a new building. It would also prevent the Berry from becoming another boarded-up vacant building downtown. Because the building will continue to deteriorate whether or not it is occupied, that $13 million repair figure will only grow with time, so the sooner the project is taken up, the less it will cost. Fast action would also reduce the risk of disaster by fire, or demolition by neglect. As a renovated building, properly run, the building could become an asset to the community, and a place of hope for about a hundred Sacramentans. As a vacant hulk, it can only represent lost hopes and missed opportunities.