Six Affordable-Housing Projects Win Subsidies

A government-sponsored banking institution on Monday awarded more than $700,000 in subsidies to six affordable-housing projects in Orange County--the largest single infusion to date for local low-income projects.

The funds from the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco will help community organizations and savings and loans finance construction of 147 rental units and three detached homes. The rentals and the homes are earmarked mainly for very-low-income residents--those who earn less than half the median income for the areas in which they live.

The awards will aid two projects in Fullerton and one each in Brea, Buena Park, Huntington Beach and Midway City, an unincorporated county area surrounded by Westminster.

The awards are part of $9 million that the San Francisco bank is providing to help create more than 2,300 new affordable housing units in California, Arizona and Nevada, the region covered by the institution.

The bank, owned mainly by S&Ls; and commercial banks to serve the borrowing needs of financial institutions, sets aside 10% of its annual income to fund affordable-housing projects. Since 1990, it has awarded subsidies twice a year to spur construction of housing for low- and very-low-income families.

Competition for the recent round of awards was intense, said Dean Schultz, the bank’s president. The bank funded 61 projects, the most ever in any round.

“As funding for government programs becomes scarcer, the bank’s affordable housing program becomes an even more critical component in creating housing that meets the needs of lower income families and those with special needs,” he said.

In Orange County:

* The bank is providing a $250,000 subsidy to build the 50-unit Walnut Avenue Apartments to replace 51 substandard residences in an area of Brea where housing conditions and the surrounding area are worsening.

The project is owned and sponsored by La Habra Neighborhood Housing Services Inc., which put together a consortium of nine lenders to provide all the financing. Quaker City Federal Savings & Loan will provide a permanent loan, with reduced fees, and technical assistance.

* A $123,834 subsidy has been earmarked for rehabilitation of the Garnet Lane Apartments in an area of Fullerton plagued by high crime and deteriorating housing. The city, property owners and residents have targeted Garnet Lane as an area to be upgraded.

The La Habra housing agency will buy and renovate the site on three parcels, providing two units for low-income families and 16 for very-low-income working residents. Pomona First Federal Savings & Loan will provide the final loan.

* A new Fullerton project, the planned 25-unit Harbor View Terrace, picked up $75,000 in construction money from the bank. It will be the first in the state to provide fully accessible, affordable rental housing with resident-managed supportive care services for very-low-income residents who are disabled.

Fullerton Savings & Loan will provide a permanent loan and technical assistance for the project, which is sponsored by Accessible Space Inc. and House of Triumph.

* The bank awarded $177,467 to rehabilitate the 38-unit Palm Village Apartments in Buena Park, where 13 buildings had fallen into disrepair and were in danger of foreclosure. The refurbishing will not displace residents and will provide housing for very-low-income renters.

The project, sponsored by the Orange County Community Housing Corp., will get permanent financing from Western Financial Savings Bank in Irvine in a lending consortium that includes Downey Savings & Loan in Newport Beach.

* The bank awarded $47,000 to help finance the purchase and rehabilitation of a vacant industrial facility that will house the Midway City Shelter, a mixed-use facility for homeless families that will offer 16 rental units along with a day-care center, a health clinic and a computer training room.

Western Financial and Bank of Westminster will provide below-market loans.

* A project by Habitat for Humanity-Orange County to build three new homes is receiving $30,000 from the Federal Home Loan Bank. Downey Savings is financing and contributing a cash grant to Habitat for Humanity for construction of the homes on an abandoned water-well site in of Huntington Beach.

The homes, available for purchase by very-low-income families, are aimed at fostering additional redevelopment in an area known as the Slater Slums. New homeowners will be required to contribute 600 hours of labor during the construction phase.