April 26, 2017
San Diego Housing Commission Partners with San Diego Habitat for Humanity to Help Low-Income Families Become Homeowners in Logan Heights
Eleven affordable, for-sale townhomes will be built; families will receive first-time homebuyer loans from the San Diego Housing Commission
SAN DIEGO, CA — The new construction of 11 townhomes on an empty lot in Logan Heights will create homeownership opportunities for low-income families, who will receive first-time homebuyer loans from the San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC) in a partnership with San Diego Habitat for Humanity.
Among these families is a 34-year- old U.S. Navy Veteran and single father, Reyneil, and his three children, ages 13, 7 and 4. They are looking forward to moving into their own home.
“San Diego is a beautiful city. I did four years in the military, and I stayed, so it’s a great achievement to know that I will be able to afford to live here for the rest of my life,” said Reyneil, a driver for a ridesharing company, who will be able to purchase his own townhome at COMM22 Community, the San Diego Habitat for Humanity development that commemorated its groundbreaking today.
These townhomes will be built for families earning 50 to 80 percent of San Diego’s Area Median Income, which is currently $42,500 to $68,000 a year for a family of four. San Diego Habitat for Humanity will prequalify all 11 families for homeownership based on income, credit and demonstrated need.
“My parents never owned a home. I’m a first-generation homeowner, and like the families that are going to be owning the homes here, I know that means a lot – it means security, it means opportunity,” said San Diego City Councilmember David Alvarez, who represents San Diego Council District 8, where the townhome development is located.
SDHC is providing first-time homebuyer assistance in the form of 3 percent interest, deferred-payment loans of up to $70,000 each to help low-income families buy the townhomes after they are built.
No payments on these loans are required for 30 years, unless the owner sells or no longer occupies the home as their primary residence.
“This is the way to help first-time homebuyers,” said SDHC Chairman of the Board Frank Urtasun. “This is a great program for people to give them a hand up, and I’m so delighted that we’re going to have 11 families taking advantage of that right here.”
These first-time homebuyer loans will be funded by HOME Investment Partnerships Program funds awarded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to the City of San Diego and administered by SDHC.
In keeping with the hallmark of Habitat for Humanity developments, the adult members of families who will live in these townhomes will enter into “Sweat Equity Agreements” that commit them to 250 hours of volunteer work, such as helping to build their own homes or assisting with Habitat for Humanity events.
In addition, each family is required to contribute a minimum cash investment of $3,000 toward the transaction closing costs.
“At Habitat, we bring people together to build homes, community and hope, and that is what we’re starting out to do today here at COMM22,” said San Diego Habitat for Humanity President & CEO Lori Holt Pfeiler.
When construction is complete, the townhomes will be sold at fair market value to the prequalified families. San Diego Habitat for Humanity finances the first deed mortgage at 0 percent interest, and the mortgage will not exceed 33 percent of the household income.
In addition, each family will receive $15,000 loans from the Federal Home Loan Bank’s Workforce Initiative Subsidy for Homeownership (WISH) Program.
The 11 townhomes will be built in three phases, which are expected to be completed by January 2020.
The development will include:
- Three 1,248 square-foot townhomes with 3 bedrooms and 2 ½ bathrooms;
- Five 1,292 square-foot townhomes with 3 bedrooms and 2 ½ bathrooms; and
- Three 1,360 square-foot townhomes with 4 bedrooms and 2 ½ bathrooms.
Each of these new homes will feature a private outdoor space, a garage, and energy-efficient features, such as Energy Star appliances, low-flow plumbing fixtures, and drought-tolerant landscaping.
San Diego Habitat for Humanity will record a 30-year deed restriction against each property, including first right of refusal to repurchase the townhomes to ensure they remain affordable. If they are sold during the affordability term, SDHC will reinvest principal repayments of up to $70,000 per townhome to future borrowers.
The San Diego Unified School District sold the land on which the townhomes will be built to San Diego Habitat for Humanity for $150,000 to make this development possible.
These townhomes are part of the multiphase, transit-oriented, mixed-use development near the trolley stop at 25 th and Commercial streets, which includes the two COMM22 affordable rental housing developments that celebrated their grand openings on May 8, 2015:
- Victoria at COMM22: 69 affordable rental studios and one- and two-bedroom apartments for seniors (62 and older); and
- Paseo at COMM22: 128 affordable rental one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments for families, including 13 units of supportive housing for transitional age youth ages 18-25.
SDHC was also a financing partner for these COMM22 affordable rental housing developments, built by BRIDGE Housing Corporation and Metropolitan Area Advisory Committee on Anti-Poverty (MAAC), in partnership with the San Diego Unified School District.
COMM22 has won numerous awards, including the 2016 Outstanding Urban or Land Development Project from the American Society of Civil Engineers, Region 9; 2015 Project of the Year by the San Diego Green Building Council for Victoria at Comm22; the 2015 Multifamily Pillars Award: Best Affordable Apartment Community (Over 100 units) from the National Association of Home Builders for Paseo at COMM22; and a Ruby Award from the San Diego Housing Federation for 2015 Housing Project of the Year: New Construction.
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Media Contact:
Scott Marshall
Interim Vice President of Communications
San Diego Housing Commission
(619) 578-7138
scottm@sdhc.org
