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Home My WebLink AboutAgenda - 12-10-2002-9c1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: December 10, 2002 Action Age da Item No. ~ ~ G- SUBJECT• Funding Request -Habitat for Humanity of Orange County, NC, Inc. DEPARTMENT: Housing/Comm. Development PUBLIC HEARING: (YIN) No ATTACHMENT(S): Letter from Susan Levy, Executive Director Habitat for Humanity of Orange County, INFORMATION CONTACT: Tara L. Fikes, ext. 2490 NC, Inc. TELEPHONE NUMBERS: Site Map Hillsborough 732-8181 Chapel Hill 968-4501 Durham 688-7331 Mebane 336-227-2031 PURPOSE: To consider approval of a funding request from Habitat for Humanity of Orange County, NC, Inc. to assist in the purchase of a 16-acre tract on Sunrise Road in Chapel Hill. BACKGROUND: Habitat for Humanity of Orange County, NC Inc. (HHOC) is requesting funds for the purchase of a 16-acre tract of land for the future development of affordable housing. HHOC plans to partner with area non-profit organizations such as Orange Community Housing and Land Trust to construct affordable rental and homeownership units on this site. Considering the current zoning classification, the land is suitable for the development of 64 affordable homes and could be built on the site using a cluster design. The total purchase price is $400,000. HHOC has executed an Offer to Purchase for this property for $400,000 with a condition requiring that funding for the purchase must be committed by December 31, 2002 with a proposed closing date of February 2003. Habitat for Humanity has approximately $100,000 available for this purchase. On October 31, 2002, HHOC submitted a request for funding assistance to the Town of Chapel Hill and Orange County for the remaining $300,000 necessary to complete the purchase. County and Town staff have met with HHOC staff to clarify this funding request and to discuss possible future development options. As a result, both entities agreed to attempt to find possible funding sources to help HHOC meet the December commitment deadline. Additionally, the County Affordable Housing Advisory Board has reviewed this request and that group endorses the funding request. At a regularly scheduled meeting on November 25, 2002, the Town of Chapel Hill approved the appropriation of $50,000 from their Housing Trust Fund to assist with this acquisition, leaving a $250,000 funding gap. County staff has examined possible funding sources and recommend that the County appropriate $126,432 in available Community Development Program income and the remaining $123,568 from the County Housing Loan Trust Fund for a total of $250,000. z FINANCIAL IMPACT: The $126,432 in Community Development Program income has been derived from repayments from previous housing rehabilitation deferred loans and loan repayments from the Hillsborough Affordable Housing Corporation from a 1992 loan to the Whiffed Forest Apartments and represents the total amount available from that source. There is approximately $208,104 currently remaining in the County Housing Trust Fund and appropriating $123, 568 will leave a balance of $84,536. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends approval of the funding request for Habitat for Humanity of Orange County, NC, Inc. to assist in the purchase of a 16-acre tract on Sunrise Road in Chapel Hill. 1•(-1•~ Habitat for Humanity ----------- ------------- - ------------_-- 1 Orange County, NC, Inc. P.O. Box 459 • Hillsborough, NC 27278 • (919)732-6767, Fix: (919)732-2337 • ochabitat~earfhlink.net October 31, 2002 John Link County Manager Orange County P.O. Box 8181 Hillsborough, NC 27278 Dear Mr. Link, On behalf of Habitat for Humanity, Orange County (HHOC) I am attaching a proposal requesting funds for the purchase of a 16-acre parcel of land on Sunrise Road to be used for the development of affordable housing. As directed by the BOCC at their October 15, 2002 meeting, I have met with Tara Fikes, the Director of Housing and Community Development for Orange County, about possible County funding sources for the purchase of this property. Loryn Barnes of the Chapel Hill Planning Department also attended that meeting. We agreed that a proposal from HHOC should be submitted both to the Town of Chapel Hill and to Orange County, and that a combination of funds from both jurisdictions should be requested. The *.otal amount being requested is $300,000. T'he contract that HHOC has on the property requires that all funding be committed no later than December 31, 2002, and that closing take place by February 28, 2003. To comply with the conditions of the contract, it is my understanding that given the BOCC's schedule as we approach the holidays, any decisions by the BOCC about funding for the land purchase would need to take place in Late November or early December of this year. Thank you for your consideration of our proposal. Please contact me if you have any questions or need additional information. Si cerely, Susan Levy Executive L Cc: Tara Fi._.,,, Proposal for Funding for the Purchase of Sunrise Road Property 4 In July 2002, Habitat for Humanity, Orange County (HHOC) signed a contract with the Thelma T. Clark Estate for the purchase of a 16.45 acre tract of vacant land on Sunrise Road in Chapel Hill. The land is suitable for the development of a significant number of units of affordable homes. The current zoning is R-2, which allows for up to 4 units per acre. At the current zoning, as many as 64 affordable homes could be built on the site using a cluster design. Since HHOC is interested in collaborating with other non-profit providers to build a mix of housing types on the site, HHOC could in the future decide to request a rezoning of the property from R-2 to the Town of Chapel Hill's R-SS-C zoning district in order to achieve a higher density. However, HHOC's request for funding to the County and to the Town of Chapel Hill to acquire the property does not depend on the approval of such a zoning change. The property presents viable development opportunities for affordable housing at its current density of 4 units per acre. The acquisition of this property has been approved by the HHOC Board of Directors, and conforms to the goals and objectives set by the HHOC Board in its long-range plan adopted in August 2001. This plan calls for acquiring land in 2002-2003 in the OWASA service area and the Chapel Hill- Carrboro school district in order to serve our applicant households, the majority of whom currently live and/or work in Chapel Hill-Carrboro. The plan also supports a continued and more extensive cooperative relationship with Orange Community Housing and Land Trust beyond the first home that HHOC plans to build in 2003 on OCHLT-owned land. The contract price for the 16.45 acre tract is $400,000. It's current appraised value as determined by an independent appraisal completed for HHOC in October 2002 is $411,000. A condition of the contract is that funding for the purchase must be committed no later than December 31, 2002, and that closing is to take place in February 2003. At the time that the contract was signed by HHOC and the seller, HHOC staff and Board anticipated that Orange County affordable housing bond funds would be available for land banking activities within this time frame. However, the schedule for RFPs for land banking activities has been delayed, and land banking will not be included in the initial round of RFP's for affordable housing bond funds. Therefore, HHOC is requesting that the Town of Chapel Hill and Orange County provide $300,000 from other available sources for affordable housing to partially finance the purchase of the property. HHOC will provide $100,000 from its own privately funded sources as a down payment on the property. HHOC has also used its own funds for the predevelopment costs incurred to date, including fees for an appraisal, for an environmental assessment, and for a title search. The property is located on Sunrise Road, across from the new YMCA Children's Center at Carol Woods. The site enjoys easy access to the major employment centers in southern Orange County, including iJNC and its hospitals. Bus service is currently available on Weaver Dairy Road, less than one-half mile from the site. The nearest shopping is located less than two miles from the site, at the Timberlyne Shopping Center. East Chapel Hill High School is less than one mile from the site. The property is located in a mixed residential neighborhood that includes an upper-end residential subdivision, Chandler's Green, as well as several older homes and a commercial business, the Potted Plant, along Ginger Road, aone-lane gravel road. The topography of the site is level to gently rolling. There is a small intermittent creek on the property, as well as high-tension power lines within a 68 ft. Duke Power easement across the front corner of the property. The northeast corner of the property abuts I-40. These factors will influence how the property is developed but they do not make the property unsuitable for residential development. The site will be served with sanitary sewer and water by OWASA, and will require a pump station to extend sanitary sewer. OWASA has indicated that they will approve a pump station to extend sewer service to the site. Project Feasibility Budget Total Acrea e 16.45 acres Pro'ected # of units 64 Pro'ected t e and tenure of units 64 SF homeownershi Pro'ected income tar etin distribution 25%-70% COST ESTIMATES Total Per Unit Re uested land bankin award 300,000 $4,688 Total land cost, includin transaction costs 415,000 6,484 of total land cost from ublic funds 74% Pre Develo ment Soft Costs 125,000 1,953 Fees, etc 15,000 234 Infrastructure Develo ment Costs 925,000 14,453 Subtotal/Develo ed Lot Costs 1,480,000 23,125 Project timeline Be innin Ex ected Com letion Date Land Ac uisition 7/2002 2/2003 Pre-develo ment lannin 8/2002 5/2005 Infrastructure installed 7/2005 9/2006 Construction 9/2006 6/2010 Final ro'ect com letion 6/2010 6 1 KAILtK POND Q ~ ? RE IDENCE ~ HENRY PROPERTY a ~ PATRICIA ~ CLARK z PROPERTY PROPERTY Z ~ RESIDENCE , ~ ~ KING PROPERTY BUILDING n U RESIDENCE Z w GINGER ROAD w a- a: 0 0 0 3 J O Q v CHITHAMOOR PROPERTY / ~ ~ ~ PROPERTY BOUNDARY DRY CREEK BED ~ F Ao~FR ~ / SUBJECT PROPERTY / ~ oMpgM. INTERSTgT f 40 JOSSELYN PROPERTY. RESIDENCE NELSON PROPERTY RESIDENCE . YUKON LN. LEVINE PROPERTY R CHAPEL HILL EAST HIGH SCHOOL GRAPHIC SCALE GROVE _NCE STORE 0' 150' 300' 600' 1 " = 300' ~~ SITE LAYOUT MAP THELAIA T. CLARK PROPERTY SUNRISE ROAD CHAPEL H1LL TOWNSHIP, ORANGE COUNTY. NORTH CAROLINA AT FOR HUWWfiY OF ORANGE COUNTY HILLSBOROUGH NC ENVRONMENiA1 COHBULTANTS, P.C. P N0. ~~ ~~ ~' JRO DATE 10 02 SCALE 1" ~ 300' CHFLlffD 8Y: AUB FI(X1RE N0. 2