Residents of the El Zoco affordable condominiums in Santa Barbara soon will get some financial relief.
The City Council on Tuesday agreed to loan residents up to $200,000 to help with the building’s failing infrastructure, such as water damage and overall deterioration. The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors also is expected to give $200,000, along with another $50,000 from Habitat for Humanity.
El Zoco is a live-work development at 211 W. Gutierrez St. in Santa Barbara. Originally, the homes were set aside for artists who live where they work, and were among the only below-market, for-sale condos in the city. They were approved by the city in 1993, in partnership with developer Homes for People, which no longer exists.
Without the developer as an option, the residents need financial help with repairs to the building. The city will offer residents individual loans, for example, of about $27,000, ammortized over 30 years with 3% interest. A sample loan payback would be about $114 a month. Those who accept loans will have to sign covenants for up to 90 years to maintain affordability.
“The benefits to the city will be to preserve much-needed, long-term, owner-occupied, affordable housing,” said Laura Dubbels, housing and human services manager.
The property has sustained water damage, which wrecked one of the units, forcing the owners to move out. The homeowners association has about $24,000 in reserves, after spending nearly $200,000 to address the water damage and other problems, such as repairs to the trellis, stucco, plumbing and staircases. Even the concrete sidewalks are lifted in parts, creating a tripping hazard.
“I am in support of protecting what was decades ago our investment in this particular niche of affordable housing,” Councilman Mike Jordan said, “particularly housing that is ownership housing, but lower-income housing in this particular case.”
The units are price-restricted, so the owners can’t make a profit when selling them — a fact that hurt their ability to obtain loans from banks.
Jordan said he is pleased that staff is working with the county and other agencies to blend the participation of organizations.
“I am so excited about this item,” Councilwoman Meagan Harmon said. “It is really, truly a fantastic example of many different stakeholders coming together to solve a problem that was brought to us by the residents themselves.”
Harmon said that at a time when there’s so much focus on creating new affordable housing, it is also important for the city to maintain its existing stock of affordable housing, and help it to be livable.
“We are creatively investing our capital not into the market, but directly into our neighborhoods, directly into the citizens who pay into our tax funds,” Harmon said. “I really feel strongly that this is a great use of our money, our expertise, and I would like to see us do more of this moving forward, to invest in our community in a tangible way.”
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
