Lafayette council approves exclusive negotiating agreement for affordable housing site with Sunflower Hill and SAHA

The Lafayette City Council voted unanimously March 28 to authorize an exclusive negotiating agreement with Sunflower Hill and SAHA that would give the developers site control needed to apply for state housing funds and could allow the city to convey the site for $1 if the project secures funding.

Council members said the ENA is intended to improve the project’s competitiveness for the Department of Housing and Community Development’s consolidated Notice of Funding Availability (Super NOFA), whose application window staff said was due in mid-April. City staff told the council the ENA would run one year with the possibility of extensions if the parties show progress; the conveyance and any sale would return to the council for separate approval.

The draft agreement arose from recent meetings between city staff, Sunflower Hill and SAHA. City staff said the proposed deal would satisfy HCD site-control requirements for the Super NOFA application and that the recommended disposition would allow the property to be conveyed for $1 conditional on the developer securing funding to build the project. Staff said the donation is intended both to classify the land as exempt…