Santa Barbara Council OKs Loans for Two Low-Income Housing Projects

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By Giana Magnoli, Noozhawk Staff Writer

The city's Housing Authority is developing one plan; Transition House is sponsoring the second

The Santa Barbara City Council approved loans for two low-income housing projects at Tuesday’s meeting.

The first, a 56-unit Artisan Court project on East Cota Street, will be developed by the Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara. The loan, about $3.2 million, will fund project development and pay off the existing bank loans used to purchase the property.

The complex includes one apartment for a manager and 55 studio apartments designed for three target populations: youth transitioning out of foster care, the chronic homeless and low-income downtown workers.

Several councilmembers Tuesday commended the Housing Authority’s “rock-solid track record.’’ The city organization opened El Carrillo in 2006, a 61-unit affordable rental housing for the homeless and near-homeless populations.

The second project has been 10 years in the making. The council approved a $680,000 loan for the Mom’s Place affordable housing project to be developed by Mom’s L.P., a California Limited Partnership made up of two general partners, the Santa Barbara Housing Assistance Corporation and Garden Court.

Transition House is sponsoring the project, and will contribute $1 million from its own fundraising efforts.

Transition House has a three-stage program for helping homeless and near-homeless by providing space first in a shelter, then transitional housing and, finally, permanent housing. The Mom’s Place project will have special-needs services available, and will target those who need ongoing support, such as a head of household with mental illness.

There will be two buildings that include affordable apartments for rent, as well as an infant care center that will be able to care for 25 babies, Transition House personnel said.

Three of the area’s critical needs — low-income housing, special-needs services and affordable infant care — will be boosted by these projects, according to representatives from both projects.

Councilman Roger Horton said the Childcare Downtown Task Force has determined that the community is “short literally hundreds of spots in the downtown area for affordable and accessible child care.”

At last Tuesday’s Santa Barbara County Board of Education meeting, the CalSAFE program — an infant care center for students in the Santa Barbara Secondary School District who are also parents — was considered for additional funds since its operations will be severely reduced because of state budget issues.

Both projects depend on applying for millions of dollars (and more than half of each project’s cost) in low-income housing federal tax credits to supplement local loans. Securing local loans puts projects in a much better position to get federal tax credit funds, which they expect to do around September, project representatives said.

— Noozhawk staff writer Giana Magnoli can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

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