minhous 12-2-19 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Councilmembers inquired as to what other communities have implemented a citywide CRA. Director Sylvester indicated that Lakewood is charting new territory in the Cleveland-Akron area with this move, however Cleveland is in the process of moving forward with the model. The focus is on providing affordable housing to those make 80% - 120% of the local area median income (AMI). It is the most pressurized range of all income spectrums no matter the city, however in Lakewood the range is even more highly pressurized. In discussions with counterparts in Columbus, the Planning Department found that they have reworked their CRA, as many of the incentives under their old structure were only going into the already successful Short North neighborhood. Columbus is expanding CRA areas to target certain areas and is in the process of tightening up their policies and procedures to manage the expansion into areas of need.Seattle implemented a citywide CRA in 2014, but did not have tight enough controls initially, which required them to go back and rework their process. Councilmembers and Director Sylvester ran through a hypothetical scenario with actual numbers presented in a Planning Department PowerPoint presentation.The presentation detailed FY2019 HUDincome limits and used the Barry Buick as an example. After calculations were made, it was determined that 28 of the 140 units in the project would be rented to individuals in the 80% - 120% AMI range for a 15-year period. Combining this figure with potential affordable units in the One Lakewood Place and Spitzer projectsgives Lakewood the potential to add under 100 units between the 3 projects. It should be noted that participating in this program is optional for developers. It should also be noted that land value taxes would increase despite any unit abatements taking place due to the costs of construction improvements on a site. For example, the Buick project has an estimated construction cost of 30 million dollars, which will drive the land value up to approximately 1.3 million dollars. If a city’s market continues to thrive, it can pick on land value over time despite abatements being in place. It was noted that a developer participating in the CRA program has high penalties in the event he or she do not comply with the terms of the affordable housing component of the deal. There are 15 years of restrictions on properties. The Solove team, who is doing work in Lakewood, has delivered affordable workforce housing in Columbus. It was clarified that a city can have direct control that a certain number of units are affordable in a project. Councilmembers and Planning Department officials talked about the benefits of integrating these units into development projects and how Lakewood’s convenient layout and access to good grocery stores and walkable places leads to higher quality of life.It was also noted that this CRA arrangement allows multiple government entities to share in the burden and risk, as opposed to the city being the only investor in projects. Chairman Anderson made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Rader to recommend Resolution 2019-08 to full Council for passage. Chairman Anderson highlighted past positive efforts that the city had to work with a private entity in the development of a school building on West Clifton. He also noted that this move to adjust the CRA positions Lakewood to compete with Cleveland’s efforts to incentivize downtown living. All members voted in favor of the motion. Motion passed.