Community Economic Development

1
Affordable Workforce Housing
A Practical Economic Development Tool in
Floridas CRAs
2
Florida Redevelopment Association

• FRA Housing Goal
• Encourage Florida's communities to create a
  healthy mix of affordable workforce and market
  rate housing
• FRA Housing Committee (James Carras, Chair)
• Inventory affordable housing policies and
  practices within CRAs
• Publish case studies and best practices in FRA
  Handbook
• Provide educational materials for CRAs through an
  annual housing conference and an ongoing housing
  certification module

3
Housing Needs

• Incomes have not kept pace with cost of living
  increases.
• From 2000-2006, single family housing values
  increased by 129 while household incomes
  increased by only 17 for all of Florida.1
• Homeownership is unattainable for the
  workforce.
• A household must earn over 70,000/year to afford
  the median priced home in Florida.2 However,
  half of the workforce earns less than
  30,000/year.3
• Households are becoming increasingly cost
  burdened.
• Over 1/3 of households in Florida spent more than
  30 of their income on housing costs in 2006.4
• Foreclosures are at the highest rates in
  history.
• In the second quarter of 2008, one out of every
  78 households in Florida was in foreclosure.5

1 Florida Association of Realtors, U.S. Census,
American Community Survey 2 Carras Community
Investment 3 Florida Agency for Workforce
Innovation and US Dept of Labor 3 U.S. Census,
American Community Survey 4 RealtyTrac
4
Housing Needs

• Incomes have not kept pace with cost of living
  increases.
• From 2000-2006, single family housing values
  increased by 129 while household incomes
  increased by only 17 for all of Florida.1
• Homeownership is unattainable for the workforce.
• A household must earn over 70,000/year to afford
  the median priced home in Florida.2 However,
  half of the workforce earns less than
  30,000/year.3
• Households are becoming increasingly cost
  burdened.
• Over 1/3 of households in Florida spent more than
  30 of their income on housing costs in 2006.4
• Foreclosures are at the highest rates in
  history.
• In the second quarter of 2008, one out of every
  78 households in Florida was in foreclosure.5

Affordable housing is no longer simply a social
concern. Housing is increasingly becoming an
economic issue.
1 Florida Association of Realtors, U.S. Census,
American Community Survey 2 Carras Community
Investment 3 Florida Agency for Workforce
Innovation and US Dept of Labor 3 U.S. Census,
American Community Survey 4 RealtyTrac
5
Housing Survey

• Methodology
• FAU Graduate Research Student
• Emailed survey to all CRAs within the State
• Collected 56 responses from CRAs
• Received highest response rate to date (40)
• Types of Questions
• How do you define workforce and affordable
  housing?
• Is there a demonstrated need for
  workforce/affordable housing in the CRA?
• What role has the CRA played in the development
  of housing?
• How have CRAs funded workforce and affordable
  housing?

6
Housing Survey

• Key Findings
• Priority Affordable and workforce housing was a
  top priority for 32 of the respondents however,
  70 of the CRAs responded that there is a need.
• Location In general, the CRAs that are
  addressing affordable housing issues are in urban
  areas with budgets over 2 million.
• Activities CRAs provide funding (53),
  facilitation (42), technical assistance (30),
  and research (18) for affordable housing
  projects.
• Funding The sources of funding for affordable
  housing assistance included CDBG, SHIP, HOME, and
  TIF.

7
Housing Survey

• The data in the survey indicates affordable
  housing activities undertaken by CRAs can be best
  described within two separate frameworks
• Site Specific Activities
• Programs
• Three CRAs have used a number of vehicles, both
  site specific activities and programs, to
  increase the production of affordable housing.
  The CRAs outlined in this section include
• Delray Beach CRA
• Boynton Beach CRA
• Winter Park CRA

8
Site Specific Activities

• Land Acquisition and Assembly
• Miami Beach CRA - through strong political
  leadership, has notably used tax increment
  financing for acquisition of land to enhance
  economic vitality through historic preservation
  and by providing affordable housing.
• Forming Partnerships
• Orlando CRA - outstanding example of how the
  formation of partnerships can be instrumental in
  producing affordable units.
• Down Payment Assistance
• Lake Worth CRA - offering 50,000 in the form of
  down payment assistance for City and CRA
  employees for Hammon Park
• Reduced Permit Fees
• Mount Dora CRA - reduced permit fees for approved
  non-profit affordable housing providers
• Site Remediation
• North Miami CRA - paying for site remediation,
  including the removal of environmental
  contamination and asbestos abatement for an
  affordable housing project

9
Programs

• Residential Improvement Programs
• Miami CRA - grant program that was created to
  assist owners with the rehabilitation of
  residential rental units
• Homebuyer Assistance Programs
• Hallandale CRA - assists first time homebuyers
  with the cost of construction on a new
  single-family home or with the purchase of an
  existing home, condominium, or townhouse
• Dedication of TIF
• Sarasota CRA - set aside one third of tax
  increment financing (TIF) funds for affordable
  housing
• Urban Infill Programs
• Central County CRA - has undertaken a 98
  single-family affordable housing urban infill
  project
• Technical Assistance Programs
• Northwest-Progresso-Flagler Heights CRA -
  instrumental in providing technical assistance
  for affordable housing developers

10
Case Studies

• Methodology
• The results of the survey were analyzed to
  identify the CRAs that were most active in
  addressing affordable housing issues
• All CRAs were first scored based on the responses
  provided in the survey to determine their
  commitment to affordable and workforce housing (1
  point was given for each response that indicated
  a commitment to affordable and workforce housing)
• Further research was conducted to determine if
  high scoring CRAs had created any
  initiatives/programs and were involved with site
  specific affordable housing projects
• The CRAs selected for the initial case studies
  were Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, and Winter
  Park

11
Delray Beach CRA
12

• City of Delray Beach and the Delray Beach CRA
  commissioned the SW/NW Neighborhood Redevelopment
  Plan that focused on housing, economic
  development, and general livability conditions.
  The creation of a community land trust was one of
  the key recommendations that addressed the lack
  of affordable housing units in the community.
  The Delray Beach Community Land Trust (DBCLT), a
  not-for-profit organization, was established in
  December of 2005.

Community Land Trust Delray Beach CRA
13
Community Land Trust

• CRAs Role
• The CRA was the driving force behind the Delray
  Beach Community Land Trust providing land, staff,
  and funding.
• Start-up and administrative costs in the amount
  of 150,000
• The CRA hired a consultant with the Burlington
  Community Land Trust to conduct the preliminary
  research for the creation of the CLT
• CRA obtained a 7 million line of credit to
  provide construction financing and granted an
  annual land acquisition budget for the DBCLT of
  about 2.5 million

• Program Effectiveness
• The DBCLT became one of the most active community
  land trusts in the State of Florida in 2007.
• To date, it has constructed and acquired
  approximately 20 homes for both affordable and
  workforce families.
• In 2007, the DBCLT successfully placed more than
  10 families into affordable single-family homes.
• The DBCLT is already considered to be
  self-sufficient generating 52 of its funds.

14
Boynton Beach CRA
15
Homebuyer Assistance ProgramBoynton Beach CRA

• In an attempt to help more families purchase a
  home within the community, the CRA implemented
  the Homebuyer Assistance Program. The Homebuyer
  Assistance Program (HAP) provides up to 50,000
  in interest free down payment assistance for low
  and moderate-income families purchasing a home in
  the CRA. The funds supplement SHIP assistance
  and help close the gap between the cost of the
  home and the amount first-time homebuyers can
  afford.

16
Homebuyer Assistance Program

• Program Guidelines
• Must be a first time homebuyer
• Family income must not exceed 120 MHI for Palm
  Beach County as set by HUD
• Funds may be used for down payment, closing
  costs, and rehabilitation costs
• Persons working in the City of Boynton Beach
  receive preference
• Funding should not exceed 40 for moderate-income
  buyers and 50 for low income buyers of the
  purchase price

• Program Effectiveness
• The 2005 bond made the Homebuyer Assistance
  Program possible as 1.4 million of the bond was
  dedicated to the program.
• By the end of the first quarter in 2008, 21 HAP
  units have closed. Another eight are expected to
  close before the end of the year.

17
Winter Park CRA
18
West Comstock DevelopmentWinter Park CRA

• The West Comstock Development features four new
  affordable, single-family, green building
  certified modular homes. A partnership was formed
  between the City of Winter Park, the Community
  Redevelopment Agency and the Hannibal Square
  Community Land Trust (HSCLT). The homes are
  priced at approximately 150,000.

19
Best Practices

• Identify and assess affordable housing needs
• Coordinate planning activities with the community
• Create new, local sources of funding
• Leverage existing and new funding sources
• Provide incentives to attract private development
  
• Coordinate with other city departments
• Develop public-private partnerships
• Build the capacity of community-based
  organizations
• Ensure the long-term preservation of affordable
  housing

20
Affordable Workforce Housing
Mandy Spangler, Senior Associate 954.263.6055,
mandyspangler_at_bellsouth.net
A Practical Economic Development Tool in
Floridas CRAs