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Orono City Council <br /> Committee of the Whole <br /> September 29, 2009,6:15 p.m. <br /> Orono City Council Chambers <br /> Present: Mayor Jim White, Council Members Cynthia Bremer, Doug Franchot, Lili McMillan and Jim <br /> Murphy; Finance Director Ron Olson, Assistant City Administrator for Long-Term Strategy <br /> Mike Gaffron, City Clerk Lin Vee, City Engineer Tom Kellogg <br /> 1. Common Bond/Interfaith Outreach Presentation—Proposed Workforce Housing Project <br /> • Paul Fate, Ellen Higgins and Amanda Novak of CommonBond Communities described their <br /> organization, noting the 40-year old organization's mission is to build community by building <br /> affordable housing. <br /> • A development opportunity in Orono has been identified as the city-owned property behind the <br /> Long Lake fire station on Willow Drive. A community analysis based on the 2000 census was <br /> provided. <br /> • Vicksburg Commons, located in Plymouth, is a similar development where CommonBond <br /> partnered with Interfaith Outreach and Community Partners (IOCP). <br /> • Workforce housing is defined as housing for public and private sector employees who earn 60% <br /> or less of the Area Median Income. The Hennepin County Area Median Income is$88,700. <br /> o Examples of incomes that fall in this range are retail workers, health aids, restaurant <br /> workers, landscaping crews, teachers, and sales managers. <br /> • Potential residents submit an application and are selected after a thorough screening process. <br /> o There has been a high demand for the units; i.e. Vicksburg Commons in Plymouth had over <br /> 500 applications for 50 units. <br /> o The facility is marketed to area businesses, churches and local organizations to develop <br /> waiting lists of qualified residents prior to the opening of the facility. <br /> o Financial considerations include income limits and prior rental history. <br /> o Residents are selected on a first come, first served basis after meeting qualifications. <br /> � CommonBond incorporates a program for adults and youth called Advantage Services,which <br /> provides long-term, intensive career building for adults and after-school tutorial and enrichment <br /> programs designed to increase academic performance for children. <br /> • IOCP's role as described by Kim Vossen would be to help meet other needs of residents such as <br /> food, clothing and work-related assistance, and connecting families with available community <br /> programs. They would also assist in finding residents for occupancy. At the Vicksburg Commons <br /> facility,they manage the Advantage Services program. <br /> • Facilities are managed with a full-time on-site property manager and Advantage Services office <br /> with a part-time employee. <br /> • Funding would be from a combination of available financing sources: <br /> o Federal tax credit. CommonBond typically does 2-3 tax credit projects each year. Because <br /> of the lack of affordable housing in the western suburbs, this proposal may be a higher <br /> consideration for available tax credits. <br /> o Bank financing <br /> o Miscellaneous county and state housing fund programs <br /> o Met Council <br /> • CommonBond presented 3 concepts for development at the identified site. <br /> o Concept 1—oblong, 1 unit building with 41 apartments <br /> o Concept 2—oblong, 1 unit building with 44 apartments with 1, 2 and 3 bedroom options <br /> o Concept 3-1 building with 9 townhomes and 1 building with 38 apartments <br /> • Apartments are generally 2 story buildings; townhomes are 2 stories with a tuckunder garage. <br /> • Rental rates: 1 bedrooms range from $594-$713; 2 bedrooms range from $713-$850; 3 <br /> bedrooms range from $823-$984 <br /> Page 1 of 3 <br />