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Affordable Housing advisory committee recommends $1 million in awards, prioritizes homeownership; declines several proposals
Summary
The Affordable Housing Advisory Committee recommended distributing $1,000,000 across competitive applications, approving a $350,000 award to Habitat for Humanity and a $650,000 award to Solaness while recommending $0 for Raintree, Related Northwest and Alpenglow, citing readiness, cost-per-unit and affordability concerns.
The Affordable Housing Advisory Committee recommended a set of funding awards after extended deliberations on project readiness, affordability and unit yield.
Melissa Cimanga, the city's affordable housing coordinator, told the group, "you have $1,000,000 to deliberate," and walked members through a live worksheet as they considered allocations and trade-offs between more units and longer-term homeownership benefits.
The committee approved by voice vote a recommendation to the Bend City Council to award $350,000 to Habitat for Humanity for down-payment assistance, citing the project's high score, readiness and the fact that those funds would be given directly to homebuyers. A committee member moved the Habitat motion and another member seconded; the motion passed by voice vote.
Members divided over proposals that would produce many rental units but were farther from construction. Several speakers said readiness and clear affordability guarantees mattered more than potential unit counts alone. After discussion, the committee recommended $0 for Raintree and Related Northwest, noting both proposals were judged not sufficiently advanced in the pipeline and that affordability terms or pricing were unclear. The committee also recommended $0 for Alpenglow because of a high cost per unit and concerns that funding it could create a negative precedent.
The committee moved to recommend $650,000 for Solaness to support building expenses that would reduce buyer costs, citing the project's unit count, AMI targeting and relative readiness. Lucy, the committee's note-taker, recorded members' explanatory statements to be included with each motion so counsel and council would understand the reasoning.
Members emphasized standard motion language to capture who would be funded, how much, for what purpose, and why — a template staff had provided to make the record transparent. Several members also discussed contingencies and the option for applicants to reapply in future cycles if projects mature; staff confirmed the fund is competitive and typically opens at least once a year depending on repayments and external funding.
Next steps: AHAC will forward its funding recommendations and the recorded rationales to the Bend City Council for final decision.
