Glendale council approves $376,000 to avert foreclosure at Metro Loma Apartments

Glendale City Council and the Glendale Housing Authority voted to authorize up to $376,000 to stabilize Metro Loma Apartments, a 44-unit affordable housing development at 328 Mira Loma Avenue that is in default and facing foreclosure by its senior lender.

The funds, approved by motion and council resolution, are intended to cover five months of missed mortgage payments to the senior lender and immediate capital repairs identified in a capital needs assessment. Mike Fortney, deputy director of community development, told the council the appropriation would cover short-term cash needs while staff and lenders negotiate a longer-term solution.

The appropriation passed on a council roll-call vote with all voting members recorded as "yes." Councilmember Corsican moved the action; a councilmember seconded the motion.

Fortney said Metro Loma is a 9% tax-credit project placed in service in February 2009 and that the Housing Authority owns the land and leased it to Metro Loma LP. The project carries two subordinate loans and a senior loan held by California Community Reinvestment Corporation (CCRC). Fortney reported the combined outstanding loans total about $4,168,000 (a mix of low-mod and HOME dollars); the County of Los Angeles holds a third-position loan of approximately $1,472,000; and the CCRC senior loan outstanding is roughly $1,400,000.

Fortney described…