The Urban Land Institute Selects Four Exemplary Workforce Housing Developments As Winners

Date: 11.05.2009
Publication: ULI The Urban Land Institute

SAN FRANCISCO (November 5, 2009) – The ULI Terwilliger Center for Workforce Housing has selected Casa del Maestro, The Kalahari, Miller Ranch, and South City Lights as winners of this year’s Jack Kemp Workforce Housing Models of Excellence Awards. The awards are given to workforce housing developments that represent outstanding achievements in several areas, including innovative financing, unique construction methodologies, strong public/private partnerships, and replicability to achieve workforce housing affordability. The award winners were announced at the ULI Fall Meeting in San Francisco, California.

The Models of Excellence Awards recognize exemplary developments that meet workforce housing needs in high-cost communities. Twenty-five submissions were reviewed throughout the United States. Each of the four winning projects had at least 25 percent of the units designated for families earning between 60 percent and 120 percent of the area median income; was located near employment centers and transportation hubs; and utilized public capital subsidies for no more than 25 percent of the development costs.

All of the winning developments were bolstered by strong partnerships between the developers and the local municipalities. As a result, each municipality and its residents will benefit from the increased availability of workforce housing in their communities. The winners are:

Casa del Maestro, Phase II (developed by Education Housing Partners, LLC, an affiliate of Thompson/Dorfman, is located in Mill Valley, California) is the final phase of a 70-unit rental development which provides affordable apartments to the teachers of the Santa Clara Unified School District. After recognizing that there was a high employment turnover rate among teachers due to the area’s high housing costs, the school district partnered with the developer to construct employer assisted housing on 3.5 acres of land owned by the school district. Since its completion, the apartments of Casa de Maestro, available only to school district teachers, has remained fully leased and has maintained a long waiting list.
The Kalahari (developed jointly by L & M Development Partners and Full Spectrum of NY, LLC, both located in New York City) is a new 249-unit condominium located in Central Harlem. The condominiums are housed in two 12-story buildings, with 46,500 square feet of ground floor commercial space. This initiative facilitates the construction of mixed-income housing on City-owned land, half of which are affordable to families earning up to 150 percent of area median income. The condominium receives 25 percent of its electricity from solar and wind sources, making its design meet LEED Silver standards.
Miller Ranch (developed by Eagle County, Colorado) was originally a working ranch that was partitioned over time, with Eagle County eventually controlling 120 acres. Eagle County partnered with ASW Realty to construct the site that is now home to a campus for Colorado Mountain College, a new high school, and a 30-acre residential development comprised of 282 homes. Homes in Miller Ranch must be purchased by local residents or employees for owner-occupancy. There was deed restrictions placed on all the units, limiting appreciation to 3 to 6 percent annually, resulting in sale prices well below median price.
South City Lights (developed by Watt Communities in Santa Monica, California) is located on a 13-acre infill site in South San Francisco. Developed in partnership with CityView, this topographically challenged site was passed over by developers for many years. Working with the City of South San Francisco, the developer secured entitlements for a density of 20 units per acre in exchange for restricting the sale of 70 units to families earning between 80 to 120 percent of the area median income. What was created was a cost-effective design that provided workforce housing for a major employment center of the City.

“I congratulate the winners of the Models of Excellence Awards,” J. Ronald Terwilliger, chairman and CEO of Trammell Crow Residential and founder of the ULI Terwilliger Center for Workforce Housing, said. “Each of the winning projects is an excellent example of how the public and private sectors can work together to help solve the growing crisis of the lack of availability of workforce housing. Many of the best practices can be replicated in other high-cost areas.”

The winners were announced by Awards Jury Chairman Steve C. Preston, CEO of OAKLEAF Waste Management, LLC in East Hartford, Connecticut and former Secretary of the U.S. Dept of Housing and Urban Development. “We are pleased with all workforce housing projects,” said Preston. “All four award winning developments demonstrate strong public/private partnerships, innovative financing, and a commitment to housing America’s working families.”

In addition to the Award winners, the following developments were selected as finalists:

Cottages at Longborough – (The Beach Company) Charleston, South Carolina
Fair Oaks Court – (Heritage Housing Partners) Pasadena, California
Woods Corner – (Middle Keys Community Land Trust) Islamorada, Florida

The ULI Terwilliger Center for Workforce Housing will soon release a publication highlighting these award winning developments. To learn more about the Jack Kemp Workforce Housing Models of Excellence Awards, click here.

About the Urban Land Institute
The Urban Land Institute (www.uli.org) is a global nonprofit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the Institute has nearly 34,000 members representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines.

For more information, contact:

Trisha Riggs at 202-624-7086 or Email: priggs@uli.org
Robert Krueger at 202-624-7051 or Email: robert.krueger@uli.org