Council approves affordable‑housing agreement for South Brea Townhomes and signals support for down‑payment assistance

The City Council approved an affordable‑housing agreement with Brea 32 LLC for the South Brea Townhomes project and directed staff on financing options for down‑payment assistance to help low‑income buyers.

Senior Management Analyst Marie Dow summarized the project: the proposal would demolish an existing commercial structure at 685 South Brea Boulevard and construct 32 for‑sale townhome units, four of which are required to be affordable under the city's affordable‑housing ordinance. The project was submitted under SB 330 rules and was approved by the Planning Commission in July 2024. Condition of approval items require the developer and the city to enter an affordable housing agreement that defines the affordability period, eligibility, resale restrictions and monitoring.

Staff recapped the city's grant application: the city applied for a $1,000,000 local housing trust fund grant with a required local match; staff identified $400,000 of the requested funds for down‑payment assistance for buyers of the four affordable units. Staff presented two options to the council if the grant is not awarded: (1) condition down‑payment assistance on receipt of the grant (which would result in those units being offered to moderate‑income buyers if the grant is not awarded), or (2) provide down‑payment assistance from existing city housing funds regardless of grant outcome to ensure the four units go to low‑income buyers. Staff recommended the latter option and sought direction on funding source and cumulative amount.

Council members questioned projected fund draws for staff and administration and asked staff to provide historical annual draws from fund 280 over the prior four years for comparison. Council discussion noted the affordable housing trust fund balance figures presented by staff (approximate balances shown as $3,800,000 for the affordable housing trust fund and $2,300,000 for the housing successor fund), and multiple council members expressed support for using city funds to enable the four units to be sold to low‑income buyers. Dow clarified that if down‑payment assistance is provided, the four units would have low‑income resale restrictions (45 years in one example) and that the city retains options for resale oversight.

A motion to approve the affordable housing agreement and authorize the city manager to execute related documents, and to provide direction to staff on down‑payment assistance funding, was made and passed 5‑0.