Addressing Boulder Countys Affordable Housing Crisis Through - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Addressing Boulder County’s

Affordable Housing Crisis Through Collaboration and Vision

Prepared for the Boulder County Consortium of Cities February 1, 2017

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The Boulder County Regional Affordable Housing Strategic Plan:

• Priorities, Goals, Strategies
• Timeline
• Monitoring
• Next Steps

As a region, we’re falling far short

• f meeting the need for affordable

housing. The Boulder County Regional Housing Partnership has created a plan to address this, and we ask for your support of this plan.

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Lessons Learned & Where We Are Heading

Build on what has been working:

• 10 Year Plan to Address Homelessness
• Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA)
• HOME Consortium
• Flood Recovery Housing Working Group

Social Determinants of Health Pillars of Family Stability

Kathy Fedler – Longmont Community Services Kurt Firnhaber – Boulder Division of Housing Kristin Hyser – Boulder Community Investment Program Betsey Martens – Boulder Housing Partners Molly McElroy – Longmont Community Services Michael Reis – Longmont Housing Authority

Boulder County Regional Housing Partnership

Frank Alexander – Boulder County Housing & Human Services Robin Bohannan – Boulder County Community Services Jeremy Durham – Boulder Housing Partners Norrie Boyd – Boulder County Housing Authority Leslie Durgin – Boulder Chamber of Commerce Krystal Winship Erazo – Longmont Housing Authority

• Formed in 2016 as a cross-jurisdictional working group
• Focus is to create a suite of regional strategies and goals to meet
• ur region’s need for affordable, attainable, and workforce housing
• Membership:

Our Affordable Housing Crisis

Rising housing costs Lost affordable housing supply Incomes not keeping pace Land costs increasing Additional transportation problems Increased public concern: affordable housing is our top priority

Frank Rising housing costs

Average Home Sales Prices

• Dec. 2010 – Dec. 2016

Boulder (67%) Louisville (65%) Lafayette (49%) Longmont (76%)

76%

Increase in Longmont Average Home Sale Prices from 2010-2016

63%

Boulder County Housing Stock Valued at Greater than $300,000

$200,000 $300,000 $400,000 $500,000 $600,000 $700,000 $800,000 $900,000 $1,000,000 $1,100,000 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Mountains (65%)

Source: Boulder Area Realtors Association

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Boulder County Median 2BR Monthly Rents Increase Since 2011

38%

Percent of Boulder County Population Renting

36%

Increase in Boulder County Median 2BR Rents from 2011-2016

Source: Zillow Rent Index, 2 Bedroom

Boulder (31%) Longmont (33%) County-wide (36%) Lafayette (42%) Louisville (36%)

$2,000 $1,700 $1,400 $1,100

Cost-Burdened Renters in Boulder County

Source: HUD Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS) data; U.S. Census data 2015

15,029 Renter Households (32% of renters)

40,000+ people

40,0of income toward rent)

10,004 Renter Households (22% of renters)

than 50% of income toward rent)

SEVERELY COST-BURDENED

(more than 50% of income toward rent)

COST-BURDENED

(more than 30% of income toward rent)

Boulder County Renters

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

54% of Renters in Boulder County are Housing-Cost-Burdened

More affordable housing

More Energy Efficiency More open spaces

Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan Survey City of Boulder Citizen Survey Affordable housing

• ptions are few

Affordable housing is the top priority City of Longmont Citizen Survey Housing affordability getting worse Deep Community Concerns Around Lack of Affordable Housing

What’s Happening Today

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Challenges to Affordable Housing Development

53% Increase in Housing Costs 36% Increase in Rents

• Competing land interests
• Funding issues
• Planning Review and

Entitlements – long and unpredictable processes

• Construction costs
• NIMBYism

What does it take to fill the financing gap?

Debt Equity Gap

City fee waivers No-cost/low-cost land Grants Soft debt Tackling the High Cost of Development in Boulder County

Challenges to Affordable Housing Development

Overcoming Affordable Housing Development Challenges in Longmont

• Changed Housing Goals and Policies
• Set an Affordable Housing Goal
• Align zoning with future land use plan
• Review and change regulations, policies and

processes that hinder affordable housing creation

• Provide “by right” variances/modifications (increased

heights/densities, mixed use and AH options) that can be approved administratively by staff

• Fee waivers to help offset the cost of providing the

affordable units

• Additional resources ($25 Million) can

help create almost 1,000 affordable homes within 3 to 5 years

• Public/private partnerships with larger

financers are essential

• Our regional focus and support of

development in all communities was key to success

• A pipeline of projects and land is critical

to keeping units in production

What The 2013 Flood Taught Us

City of Boulder’s Approach Middle Income Strategy

$650,000 $331,750 $284,500 $439,950 $574,525 $291,863 $865,748 $348,450 $286,000 $450,500

Detached All Attached Condo Townhome 3-pp 150% AMI Afford 3-pp 80% AMI Afford

≤ 2,000 SQFT Homes All Homes Median Home Price (2015)

M A R K E T

A 7% Goal

Tools to Support the Middle Class

T O O L S

1. Land Use & Policy: Provide policy direction related to

middle income housing and recommended land use changes to enable new middle income housing.

2. Middle Income Community Benefit Zoning: Adopt

community benefit policies and outline incentive-based rezoning/community benefit zoning.

3. Inclusionary Housing: Amend Inclusionary Housing

(IH) regulations to include a middle income tier.

4. Additional Community Benefit (Annexation):

Adopt policies requiring more middle income community benefit.

2,395

(553 DR)

3,462

(52 DR)

603

(272 DR)

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Mountains Nederland Lyons Central Boulder Gunbarrel Niwot

Permanently-Affordable Housing Inventory

in Boulder County (2017) – Units by Region

Northeast Longmont Southeast Lafayette Louisville

Regions:

Recent Affordable Housing Development

Lee Hill, Boulder 31 units

Aspinwall, Lafayette 72 new & 95 refurbished units

High Mar, Boulder 59 units Red Oak Park, Boulder 59 units

Josephine Commons, Lafayette 74 units

Spring Creek, Longmont 60 units Hearthstone, Longmont 50 units

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Current & Proposed Affordable Housing Development

Kestrel, Louisville 200 units, 2017 Palo Park, Boulder, 44 units, 2018 Twin Lakes, Gunbarrel 120-240 units, 2020(?) 2nd Street, Nederland 30 units, 2019 Fall River, Longmont, 60 units, 2019

A Regional Affordable Housing Strategic Plan

The Boulder County Regional Housing Partnership

Priorities

In order to develop and preserve diverse affordable housing options, local jurisdictions will work both individually and collaboratively to:

• 1. Establish regional housing goals
• 2. Bolster financial resources
• 3. Secure land and redevelopment opportunities

for future housing

• 4. Preserve affordability of existing housing
• 5. Align regulatory processes with housing goals

Local and Regional Housing Goals

• 30% of units should be homeownership; 70%

should be rental

• 300 units per year new construction;

the rest would be acquisition

Homes New Construction Acquisition Total For Rent 3,150 3,150 6,300 For Ownership 1,350 1,350 2,700 Total 4,500 4,500 9,000

Proposed Tenure and Method – 10% Goal

4,900 6,000 3,100 2,500

Mountains Nederland Lyons Central Boulder Gunbarrel Niwot

Permanently-Affordable Housing Inventory

in Boulder County (2035) – Units by Region

Northeast Longmont Southeast Lafayette Louisville Superior

Regions:

Bolster Financial Resources

Goal of homes built or acquired/year Existing Local Resources to Invest Annually New Local Funding sources needed at investment of $50,000/home New Local Funding sources needed at investment of $85,000/home

600

(Recommended)

$15,000,000 $15,000,000 $36,000,000 1,000 (Most bold) $15,000,000 $35,000,000 $70,000,000

Bolster Financial Resources

• Establish county-wide affordable housing trust

fund with variety of potential funding sources:

• one or more ballot initiatives first three years
• f plan
• Portion of sales and property taxes in support
• f goals
• Extend/increase Worthy Cause, dedicate

some to affordable housing

• Review RETT, Occupation, Hotel Tax, RETA
• Implement local commercial linkage fees

Align Regulatory Processes with Housing Goals

• Adopt staff level approvals, fee reductions and waivers, density increases,

and design flexibility for new developments with affordable housing

• Require annexations to include affordable housing
• Codify local entitlement processes to provide predictable non-discretionary

development rights for affordable housing development projects

• Expedite entitlements for affordable housing units
• Adopt local Affordable Housing Benefits Ordinances to enhance the

financial feasibility for developing diverse housing options

• Evaluate and modify local land use regulations to eliminate barriers to and

facilitate the creation and preservation of affordable housing

• Adopt Inclusionary Housing in each jurisdiction

Secure Land and Redevelopment Opportunities for Future Housing

• Identify publicly owned vacant and underutilized

parcels and designate them for affordable housing development

• Engage other public landowners in prioritizing the

disposition of land in their ownership to serve the development of diverse housing options

• Secure new land through acquisitions and donations
• Identify properties ripe for redevelopment and

prioritize the redevelopment of the site(s) for affordable housing development (in areas formerly designated as Business, Commercial, Industrial)

Preserve Existing Affordable and Market Attainable Housing

• Acquire and deed restrict existing housing

inventory.

• Adopt One-for-One Replacement ordinances

allowing developments currently featuring more units than allowed by current zoning to be rebuilt to include up to the existing unit count with a requirement for increased permanent affordable housing.

• Make up differences through acquisition: for

600/year goal, need to acquire 300/year; for 1,000/year goal, need to acquire 700/year.

With the adoption of these goals and strategies, the Boulder County Regional Housing Partnership will meet quarterly to review progress and prioritize new opportunities and funding resources. Boulder County Regional Housing Partnership will report to the Consortium of Cities annually.

Monitoring

Timeline

Planning Phase: Implementation Phase:

2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 …. 2035

Set Goals Build staff capacity Bolster Financial Resources Align Regulations Secure Land Acquire and build

250-300 Homes 300-350 Homes 350-400 Homes 500-600 homes 600- 700 600- 700 600- 700 600- 700 600- 700

Monitor

Next Steps for the Consortium

• Provide feedback on proposed goals tonight
• Endorse and adopt the Regional Affordable Housing Partnership plan
• Agree to recommended goals and targets
• Help ensure individual community priorities are linked to common regional vision
• Collaborate on local strategies to accomplish the vision: including planning,

funding, and land banking

• Provide political leadership, consistent messaging and public awareness/outreach
• Recommend next steps with each jurisdiction

Questions for the Consortium

1. Does the plan respond to what you are hearing in your community? 2. How bold do you feel it should be? Does the 10-15% of inventory approach we’ve discussed make sense? Where in that range do you want the goal to be? 3. Do the tools and strategies make sense? Are there any tools or strategies you feel are missing? 4. Do you support the assumptions about new construction and acquisition targets? 5. How do you feel about the ownership (30%)/rental (70%) proposal? 6. In order to set ambitious goals, we need commitments to work on new resources (land and funding). Of the financial tools available, which ones seem the most promising? 7. Are there any changes needed before bringing this to your Council?

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Thank you!