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Committee approves reduction of CDBG‑compliant units at The Radian from 30 to 22
Summary
Following a motion to reconsider, the Legal and Finance Committee approved an amendment reducing the number of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) compliant units at The Radian apartment complex from 30 to 22 after staff monitoring found eight units out of compliance.
The Legal and Finance Committee on Feb. 12 approved an amendment to the city's agreement with The Radian apartment owners to reduce the number of units required to meet the city's CDBG affordability standard from 30 to 22.
Director Daniel Ainsley said the Radian, a recently completed 42‑unit apartment complex, received $597,000 from the city's CDBG program as part of its capital stack. During the project's first annual monitoring the city's CDBG manager found eight of the originally designated 30 units were charging rents above the program limits and therefore were not in compliance.
Michelle, the city's CDBG manager, explained that project applications must meet a minimum of 51% CDBG‑compliant units, while the programwide requirement is 70%. She said the contract paperwork originally listed 22 compliant units and that the owner had voluntarily indicated they would target 30 units; the monitoring showed they are not meeting that higher figure. She said the CDBG standard the city enforces is that tenants should pay no more than 30% of their income for rent plus utilities.
Councilmember Bill Evans raised concerns about changing the agreement after the fact, saying it "leaves a bad taste" to amend expectations after funding decisions. Director Ainsley and the city's housing staff said the owner requested the change, citing long‑term difficulty maintaining the deeper affordability level and that staff would otherwise pursue compliance remedies under the contract and, if necessary, with the city attorney's office.
Ainsley added that the site is in a planned development and the reduced number of affordable units could require a major amendment to that plan development.
The committee first voted to reconsider the previously approved item on a motion by Councilmember Biberdorf, seconded by Kevin Maher; the motion carried. The committee then approved the amendment to reduce required CDBG‑compliant units from 30 to 22 on a motion by Councilmember Biberdorf, seconded by Maher; the motion carried.
Staff said follow‑up will include continued monitoring and coordination with the city attorney's office on remedies if compliance is not achieved under the amended agreement.
