REACH Virginia Travels to Suffolk to Host The REACH growth. REACH Virginia participation ensures...

INSIDE:2 DevelopingandPreserving

AffordableWorkforceHousinginNorthernVirginia

3 HowMUMIFinancingisRevitalizingVirginia’sSmallTownsandCities

4 AVitalConnectionforLandlordsandRenters

4 MercerPlacetoBringWorkforceHousingtoKilmarnock

5 TVShowHelpsEducateHispanicHomebuyers

6 HousingandEconomicDevelopmentWorkshopOffersCertificationTrainingCreditsforPlanningStakeholders

7 VHDA’sMicro-boardProgram:ImprovingTheQualityofLifeforPeoplewithSeriousDisabilities

8 REACHVirginiaTravelstoSuffolktoHostRevitalizationTrainingforFaith-basedLeaders

8 TheREACHVirginiaTeamHasaNewMember

8 REACHVirginiaTeamContactInformation

Published by the Virginia Housing Development Authority (VHDA)

Call us toll-free: 877-VHDA-123 • TDD/TTY (Local): 804-783-6705 • TDD/TTY (TollFree): 888-451-4810 • vhda.com

REACH Virginia Team Contacts

Fall 2010

Virginia Beach Community Development Corporation: Meeting Housing Needs, Recognizing MilestonesIn May, the Virginia Beach Community Development Corporation (VBCDC) celebrated the completion of Beach Park West, the organization’s newest multifamily housing development. The ribbon cutting drew elected officials, public and private partners and potential residents, all of whom toured this new community designed to ease a critical housing need in the City of Virginia Beach.

Beach Park West, a collaborative effort between VBCDC and the Virginia Beach Department of Human Services (DHS), provides permanent supportive housing for 18 individuals with mental health disabilities. One apartment space is used for DHS onsite supportive services.

The multifamily community was developed with approximately $1 million in support from the City of Virginia Beach and $1.25 million in VHDA REACH Virginia financing. Each apartment is EarthCraft™ certified and energy efficient to help reduce utility costs for residents, as well as improve air quality and enhance year-round comfort.

In addition to celebrating its new housing community, VBCDC is also commemorating 25 years of serving the citizens of Virginia Beach. Successful partnerships with both the public and private sectors continue to enable the organization to provide a variety of housing programs and services including:

• Homeownership programs for low- to moderate-income buyers.

• A 24-month transitional housing program.

• An emergency shelter with case management services.

Since its inception, VBCDC has received numerous awards for rehabilitating and managing more than 300 rental apartments for the homeless, those with low-to-moderate income, the elderly and people with disabilities, as well as creating 100 homeownership opportunities.

For additional information contact Monique Johnson.

Mike Hawkins, PhD, AICP Director of Community Housing 804-343-5654 [email protected]

Gail Braham Community Outreach Program Coordinator 804-343-5512 [email protected]

Costa Canavos Community Housing Officer Local Government Outreach 804-343-5735 [email protected]

Bruce DeSimone, AICP Community Housing Officer Outreach to Senior Citizens 804-343-5656 [email protected]

Bill Fuller, PhD Senior Community Housing Officer Outreach to Persons with Disabilities 804-343-5754 [email protected]

Debbie Griner Community Outreach Program Coordinator 804-343-5518 [email protected]

Chris Hilbert Senior Community Housing Officer Outreach to Non-Profit Organizations 804-343-5741 [email protected]

Monica Jefferson Community Housing Officer Outreach to the African-American Community 804-343-5736 [email protected]

Monique Johnson Community Housing Officer Capacity Building and Loan Underwriting 804-343-5992 [email protected]

Toni Ostrowski Senior Community Housing Officer Outreach to Stakeholders and Partners 804-343-5982 [email protected]

José Páiz Community Housing Officer Outreach to the Hispanic Community 804-343-5915 [email protected]

Mike Scheurer Community Housing Officer Northern Virginia Outreach 804-343-5916 [email protected]

As part of our Harvest Project initiative, VHDA recently hosted neighborhood revitalization training in Downtown Suffolk for local pastors and other faith-based leaders. This training included interactive work sessions and a neighborhood bus tour of the community.

Reach Virginia team members Monica Jefferson and Toni Ostrowski, who facilitated the training session, explained neighborhood revitalization by weaving in housing rehabilitation with the fabric of retail businesses, social organizations and streetscape improvements. The result is a tapestry of a vibrant, reinvigorated community.

Begun in 2007, VHDA’s Harvest Project is an initiative designed to engage faith-based organizations functioning as 501(c)(3) non-profit Community Development Corporations (CDC) (or

organizations aspiring to obtain this designation) to generate affordable housing opportunities.

The influence of faith-based organizations in communities promotes social capital, community investments and neighborhood resources. The VHDA Harvest Project supports the efforts of faith-based organizations that:

• Build affordable housing through new construction and/or the acquisition and rehabilitation of existing housing.

• Identify and educate new home-owners about the organization’s homeownership program.

• Support the revitalization of older urban communities.

For additional information contact Monica Jefferson.

The REACH Virginia Team Has a New Member Debbie Griner joined the REACH Virginia team this past February and serves as a Community Outreach Program Coordinator. She brings a wealth of experience to the team as a result of her 15 years with VHDA, which includes 12 years of working with the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program. In addition to supporting the team’s many programs and activities, Debbie also coordinates the REACH Report.

REACH Virginia Travels to Suffolk to Host Revitalization Training for Faith-based Leaders

Resources Enabling Affordable Community Housing in Virginia

TheREACH Report

Homeownership has always been a challenge for people with serious intellectual disabilities. In addition to financial resource problems, people with intellectual disabilities all too often are unable to execute the financial documents necessary to obtain a mortgage.

Through involvement with Virginia’s Olmstead Implementation Team, VHDA has found a way to help families plan a secure future for their adult child with a serious disability by financing homes through our Micro-board Program.

Micro-boards are small, family centered non-profit corporations that buy and hold property to provide a safe and secure place where their disabled family member can live as though the home were owned by the person with a disability.

Typically a micro-board is comprised of three or four family members and close friends. These members oversee all aspects of acquisition, financial management and day-to-day operation of the home.

From VHDA’s perspective, the corporation (micro-board) owns the house and rents it to the person with a disability. The home often includes a live-in caretaker (funded by a Medicaid waiver). From the parents’ perspective it means a lifetime of safe, secure and independent living for their child.

One example of how much the Micro-board means to families is expressed by Harvey C. of Bedford who formed a micro-board for his daughter Melanie.

“This has been the answer to so many prayers,” he said. “We constantly worried about how we would take care of Melanie as we grew older, and what would happen to her when we died. Now we know she will be able to live an independent life in the community where she grew up.”

Harvey purchased a lot a few blocks from his house. He then bought a modular home to put on the lot. Next he formed a micro-board that included him and his wife, an older son and a few close friends of the family. (Melanie’s brother will become chair of the board when her parents are no longer able to serve.)

Using part of Melanie’s Medicaid disability income, and rent income from a live-in caretaker, the micro-board is able to cover the mortgage and the utilities.

With more than 5,000 people living in Virginia institutions, VHDA’s Micro-board Program is one small step in the transition of Medicaid from a set of institutional supports to a home and community-based program. But perhaps most importantly, it’s a real and long lasting answer to improving the quality of life for people with serious disabilities.

For additional information contact Bill Fuller.

VHDA’s Micro-board Program:Improving the Quality of Life for People with Serious Disabilities

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A Housing Strategy for 2011 and Beyond.” In their 10-year strategy, the county commits to:

• Ending homelessness.

• Providing affordable housing options to those with special needs.

• Reducing by 50 percent the waiting lists for affordable housing.

• Producing workforce housing sufficient to accommodate projected job growth.

REACH Virginia participation ensures VHDA will be a vital partner in helping local jurisdictions implement their plans.

Foreclosure Assistance

REACH Virginia is also involved in the continuing efforts to ease the effects of the current foreclosure problems in Northern Virginia communities. This includes participating in the efforts of the Washington Capital Area Foreclosure Network and working with its members to provide assistance to governments and non-profit agencies providing counseling and other services to those impacted by foreclosure.

VHDA is also providing permanent financing for foreclosed homes purchased by Northern Virginia non-profit organizations either for rent or resale.

Homeless Initiatives

To further this outreach, REACH Virginia is represented on the board and VHDA is supporting HomeAid of Northern Virginia, a program that provides construction and renovation services to organizations with facilities for those who are homeless. HomeAid is made up of Northern Virginia Building Industry Association members.

For additional information contact Michael Scheurer.

Alexandria and Arlington Counties

The Alexandria Housing Development Corporation has announced that The Station at Potomac Yard, a 64-unit mixed-use/mixed-income development in Alexandria financed by VHDA, is fully occupied. In addition, the Harambee Economic and Community Development Corporation’s eight-unit Beazley Square Senior Residences, located in Historic Old Town Alexandria, is nearing completion and leasing activities have begun.

The Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority was recently granted federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits to continue with total redevelopment of the James Bland Public Housing Development. The existing outdated 194-unit public housing facility will be replaced with 397 new mixed-income units—231 townhouses and 148 condominiums—when this phased development is completed in 2014.

Alexandria has also begun a major housing master plan update that will define its major market and affordable housing strategy in the coming years.

Developing and Preserving Affordable Housing Opportunities – Northern Virginia

This master plan is intended to:

• Ensure a balanced geographical distribution of affordable workforce housing.

• Set numerical goals for mixed income development.

• Establish housing choice as a critical component of the economic sustainability in the city.

• Establish strategies for the development and preservation of a wide variety of affordable workforce housing.

In addition, REACH Virginia funds are being put to work on Buckingham Village, Macedonia Apartments and the Views of Clarendon in Arlington County.

Fairfax and Loudon Counties

Along with providing REACH Virginia funds for Strawbridge

Square in Fairfax County, we continue to facilitate VHDA business and programs in Northern Virginia (NOVA) through our participation on various

boards and commissions. VHDA is now represented on the Fairfax County Housing Advisory Committee (FCHAC) and the Loudoun County Housing Advisory Board. These entities are comprised of local stakeholders that make recommendations on affordable housing policy and programs in these communities.

The FCHAC was instrumental in Fairfax County adopting its “Housing Blueprint:

VHDA’sMicro-boardProgrammadeitpossibleforaBedfordfamilytobuyandinstallamodularhomeonavacantlotwithintheirneighborhood

andprovideanindependentlifefortheirdisabledadultdaughter.

PotomacYard

BeazleySquare

Housing and Economic Development Workshop Offers Certification Training Credits for Planning Stakeholders

6 3

How MUMI Financing is Revitalizing Virginia’s Small Towns and CitiesThe July 2010 issue of VirginiaTownandCity, the magazine of the Virginia Municipal League, focused on how VHDA’s mixed-use/mixed-income (MUMI) financing is helping transform today’s small downtowns into tomorrow’s vibrant, livable communities. The cover story detailed how our MUMI program provided the permanent financing for downtown MUMI projects in Floyd, Radford and Lexington.

In each of these adaptive re-use projects, developers took old largely vacant buildings in the heart of downtown and gave them new life with a mix of commercial/retail uses on the first floor and apartments on the second. The total VHDA permanent loan amount for these projects ranged from $547,000 to $1,200,000—proof that this type of financing can greatly benefit smaller communities in the Commonwealth.

Members of VHDA’s REACH Virginia team worked closely with each developer and local government to help transform ideas into reality by providing long-term permanent financing. While there were many stakeholders involved in each project, the flexibility and low interest rate of our MUMI program made the financing very attractive for the developers. In return for attractive financing, developers agreed to maintain almost half of the development’s apartments as affordable. The remaining apartments can be rented at prevailing market rates.

Because successful community transformation can’t happen without planning, a second magazine story detailed how some small towns and cities have taken advantage of VHDA’s MUMI planning grants. This grant program provides up to $10,000

to help localities working to transform their downtowns by offsetting the costs for revitalization planning. To date the program has awarded 25 planning grants, 10 of which went to assist small towns and cities around Virginia.

VHDA’s planning track record was recognized earlier this year, with a Planning Innovation Award from the Virginia Chapter of the American Planning Association. The award honored our efforts in promoting planning at the local level for mixed-use/mixed-income developments across Virginia by encouraging community revitalization and sustainable developments.

For additional information contact Costa Canavos.

In September, REACH Virginia Director of Community Housing Mike Hawkins, Senior Community Housing Officer Toni Ostrowski and Community Housing Officer Bruce DeSimone presented VHDA’s workshop on “Revitalizing Neighborhoods Through Housing and Economic Development.” The two-day event attracted more than 30 public and private sector planners, as well as other stakeholders interested in revitalizing their communities.

This was VHDA’s second workshop to be nationally approved to offer Certification Maintenance training credits for members of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) of the American Planning Association.

The first day of the workshop centered on a discussion of what key neighborhood characteristics indicate relative strengths and weaknesses and how to identify them. Next, participants explored tools and strategies to improve neighborhood economic vitality. The second day, participants were grouped into revitalization project teams and worked through various assignments, culminating with team presentations of their revitalization plans developed for the fictitious, REACHville SPARC Town neighborhood.

This event, and the “Planning for Sustainable Affordable Housing” workshop held in September 2009 (VHDA’s first AICP approved training), are part of VHDA’s Mixed-use/Mixed-income Planning Grants Initiative—a multi-faceted endeavor that includes planning funding and project financing, as well as capacity building. Capacity building is especially important for Virginia’s planners who often are at the forefront of neighborhood revitalization efforts.

The Virginia Chapter of the American Planning Association recognized the merits of our initiative in May of this year by awarding VHDA its 2009-2010 “Planning Innovation Award” during the association’s annual conference.

For additional information contact Bruce DeSimone.

Originallybuiltbetween1795and1807,theDutchInnwasrenovatedusingcolorsandmaterialsbasedonpaintandotherevidencehiddenunderthebuilding’s1970saluminumsiding.Therestoration,nowcomplete,contributestoLexington’svitalitybyadding13livingunits,aswellasretailspace.

TheDutchInnbeforerenovation.

InMay2010,VHDAreceivedaPlanningInnovationAwardfromtheVirginiaChapteroftheAmericanPlanningAssociation.

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workforce commuting from as far away as Newport News. Lack of affordable housing is a major factor in the inability of area businesses to attract and retain employees.

Mercer Place has a total development cost of approximately $1.9 million, which will involve a projected $1.3 million in VHDA permanent financing and the balance covered by numerous grants and donations received by the foundation. VHDA’s below-market interest rate translates into an affordable projected rent of $625 monthly for the two-bedroom, two-bath apartments, making Mercer Place affordable for entry-level teachers and nurses. A Summer 2011 completion date is anticipated.

For additional information contact Toni Ostrowski.

A Vital Connection for Landlords and Renters“The service is superior, and landlords can use it to their advantage to attract renters. I know because I’ve increased calls about my properties by 60 to 70 percent since I started using it,” said Danville landlord Ray F. He is just one of more than 1,000 landlords—ranging from individuals with a single unit to large firms that own and/or manage thousands of rental units—with properties listed on VirginiaHousingSearch.com.

In addition to being a hit with landlords, the free website is also popular with prospective renters. During its first year, VirginiaHousingSearch.com received more than 180,000 searches by individuals looking for rental housing and by non-profit organizations assisting prospective tenants with a rental search.

Initiated in July 2009, VirginiaHousingSearch.com is VHDA’s online resource for detailed statewide rental housing information. In little more than a year, it has evolved into a vital connection for Virginia landlords and prospective renters with 61,343 registered rental units.

In addition to the ability to list and search in English or Spanish, the website also offers a toll free, bilingual call center. The call center can help landlords input their listings and update property information. It also assists landlords and renters who either lack Internet access, or aren’t comfortable using the Internet.

For additional information contact Mike Hawkins.

The teachers, nurses, law enforcement personnel and municipal employees of Lancaster County eagerly await the groundbreaking and construction of Mercer Place. This proposed 16-unit workforce housing rental development, to be located in Kilmarnock, is the first housing development to be undertaken by the Partners for Lancaster County Schools Foundation.

Partners is a non-profit organization established by the citizens of Lancaster County to serve as a vehicle to alleviate the critical shortage of affordable workforce housing. More than 50 percent of the county’s teachers are forced to live outside the county due to the lack of affordable housing options. Rappahannock General Hospital faces the same challenges, with 25 percent of its

Mercer Place to Bring Workforce Housing to Kilmarnock

The recent foreclosure crisis and resulting uncertain economy have made it abundantly clear how critical it is for all first-time homebuyers to be well educated about the process.

One of VHDA’s primary goals is to help homebuyers stay in their homes. That means borrowers not only need to understand the homebuying process, but also need to realize the serious responsibilities of owning a home—including the long-term commitment of making monthly mortgage payments.

To support this important sustainability goal, VHDA recently created a 30-minute TV show entitled “How to Buy a Home The Right Way.”

TV Show Helps Educate Hispanic Homebuyers Taking into consideration the recent growth of Virginia’s Hispanic population, and understanding that for many recent immigrants access to information in their native language is very important, VHDA also created “Cómo Comprar Su Casa de la Forma Correcta,” a Spanish version of the show.

The former news anchor of a major Hispanic network was chosen to host the show and interview VHDA “guests” REACH Virginia Community Housing Officer José Páiz and Contact Center Manager Frank Curbeira. The show’s question-and-answer format highlights topics covered in VHDA’s free Homeownership Education curriculum:

• Personal finance and credit.

• Working with a lender.

• Role of the real estate agent.

• Home inspection.

• The loan closing.

Both versions of the show premiered during October on Fairfax County public access TV (Channel 10) and were also distributed to various other public access stations throughout Virginia.

In addition, the shows can be seen on YouTube by visiting youtube.com/vhdavideos.

For additional information contact Jóse Páiz.

ShowhostAndreaSarraldeandVHDACommunityHousingOfficerJoséPáizdiscussthehomebuyingprocess.

Artist’srenderingofMercerPlace.

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