Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Affordable Housing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Neighborhoods committee approves $5 million low-interest loan for 240-unit affordable housing project
Summary
The committee approved bill 20260150 to amend an economic development agreement and provide a $5 million low-interest loan for a 240-unit project, with all units set at or below 60% AMI; zoning and permitting were already completed, and council confirmed funding will be addressed in the FY27–28 budget.
The Neighborhoods Committee approved a $5 million low-interest loan intended to finance a 240-unit affordable housing development, the committee voted 7–0 to pass bill 20260150 after technical and legal-description amendments were adopted.
Council staff said the bill’s amendments fix scrivener errors and change references from the economic development officer to the director of neighborhoods, reflecting that the neighborhoods department will oversee the agreement. A separate amendment corrected a survey-based legal description after the borrower’s surveyor identified that 30 feet of one side of the property had been omitted; the borrower’s representative, Steve Debonau, said the corrected description was provided to general counsel and the committee approved the correction.
Vice President Nick Howland, a co-introducer, described the project as 240 units with 100% of units at or below 60% area median income (AMI), called the loan a low-interest instrument rather than a completion grant, and noted the city expects to be repaid over a 20‑year period. Council Member Ron Salem asked whether the $5 million would come from reserves; Philip Peterson said the location of the funding is not yet finalized but anticipated it would be funded from the general fund either in the annual budget or pulled from reserves later, aligning with a fiscal‑year 27–28 construction timeline.
Council members asked about zoning, traffic and permitting. Debonau said the body rezoned the property about 18 months ago and the project is in permitting, with building permits anticipated in June; traffic access analysis and utility availability have been addressed. Multiple members spoke in support of the project and asked to be added as cosponsors. The committee recorded a 7–0 vote to approve the bill.
The committee’s action amends the economic development agreement and places the revised agreement on file; it does not itself appropriate the full construction budget. The committee also approved related scrivener fixes and the legal-description correction as part of the same matter.
