|
Applications accepted for Willow housing |
|
|
Wednesday, 19 September 2007 |
 The Willow Plaza Workforce Housing apartment complex is nearly finished and Buckingham Property Management is now accepting applications from interested residents who have worked inBishop for at least six months and meet income guidelines. Photo by Mike Gervais By Mike Gervais
Register Staff 9-18-2007
Residents in the housing-scarce City of Bishop hoping to grab up one of several new workforce housing units now have their chance.
a first-come-first-served basis, meaning that the first 11 eligible applicants to submit their applications and successfully pass the screening process will be awarded the coveted apartments.
“We just put the banner up and distributed flyers a week ago” advertising that applications are now being accepted for the property, said Marvin Orrick, a manager with Buckingham Property Management.
The Willow Plaza Apartments are designated solely for workforce housing. In exchange for a loan from the City of Bishop, the developer, Pacific West Communities, Inc., agreed to a set of stipulations regarding who would qualify for the housing.
Among those qualifications are the income guidelines, mandatory employment stipulations and limits to the number of people allowed to inhabit each unit in the apartment complex.
Couples who are applying for the workforce housing must meet all other guidelines and make no more than $29,000 a year combined. Families of three looking to rent the property will not be eligible if their annual income exceeds $29,000 and families of four can make no more than $33,000 a year.
“Most people interested in applying are over the income level,” Orrick added.
A stipulation has been set limiting the number of people permitted to live in each unit. According to City Administrator Rick Pucci, renters will be limited to two people per bedroom in the apartments to help avoid over-crowding in the small apartment complex.
The 11 available two- and three-bedroom apartments will not be rented to single individuals.
Most developers, due to state law, cannot refuse to rent an apartment to an illegal immigrant, however, by partnering with the City of Bishop, Pacific West Communities does have the ability to check documentation on possible renters. Also, because it is a workforce housing complex, the city and Pacific West Communities are able to regulate who is eligible to rent the apartments.
The city and Pacific West Communities have also come up with guidelines to ensure the Willow Street apartments go to local workers. There is a stipulation that the apartments will open first to local residents who have been working in Bishop for more than six months. If there are not enough applicants who have worked in Bishop and meet the other guidelines, applications will be opened to those who have worked in Inyo County for six months or more.
“To date we have sent out 28 applications and have received three back,” Orrick said. “We have three pending approval.”
An official opening date for the apartments has yet to be set, but the contractor is nearing completion at the site, with only some aesthetic details left to be worked out. The tentative plan is to begin moving tenets into the apartments in early October.
The City of Bishop was able to advise Pacific West Communities on the stipulations it wanted to see on the workforce housing apartments because it loaned the development company a $2.2 million state grant.
The California State Department of Housing and Community Development Loan and Grant Committee granted Bishop’s request for a HOME Investment Partnership Program grant in the amount of $2.2 million on Oct. 27, 2005.
Caleb Roope, principal of Pacific West Communities, Inc., explained that the $2.2 million from the HOME Grant was be loaned to Pacific West for the construction of the project.
The term of that loan will be 55 years, Roope explained, noting that after construction is complete the city will receive “$100,000 up front,” but after that “the developer gets paid back before the city.” The loan will be paid back with three percent interest, he added, meaning that Bishop will earn about $400,000 by the time the 55-year loan is up.
|
|
Last Updated ( Friday, 26 October 2007 )
|
