Affordable Housing

CITY HALL — The City Council on Tuesday put the brakes on a potential affordable-housing project after several members said the process had run afoul of established procedures. The Housing Authority on Tuesday was set to discuss the potential for building a new affordable-housing project on city-owned property near the corner of Sonora Avenue and 5th Street in northwest Glendale. But the City Council postponed any action after several council members questioned a presentation from an affordable-housing developer, which Councilman John Drayman said sounded "an awful lot like an attempt to circumvent a process.

CITY HALL — Habitat for Humanity's seventh Glendale project — a $3.7-million, five-unit affordable-housing complex near the Ventura (134) Freeway — will break ground next year after it received city approval Tuesday. The City Council voted 4 to 0 on Tuesday to provide the property at 624-630 Geneva Street — which the city bought in 2006 for $2.5 million — to the nonprofit to build five three-bedroom units and a community garden. "I think this is going to be a terrific asset to the city," said Councilman John Drayman.

Robert Chacon Rising rents drove Maryam Radman out of Glendale four years ago, and an affordable-housing project brought her back. Her new home, Heritage Park at Glendale, held a grand-opening ceremony Wednesday. It is the latest affordable-housing project completed in the city and the 11th such development providing more than 620 units for low-income seniors, families and disabled residents. "I love it here," Radman said. "It is very comfortable.

In 1977, I returned home from the Air Force as a disabled veteran, beat down and almost helpless at the age of 21. I began an incredible journey through red tape, poverty and doors slammed in my face. I was never told "welcome home," and I feel unwelcome as of today. I begged for help as I struggled to support myself, my wife and two sons. I was told that the veterans disability compensation I received made me ineligible for assistance. I tried to hold down more than 50 jobs.

Sona Mooradian, an administrative analyst for the city’s Housing Authority, is scheduled to appear live Thursday on “The Larry Zarian Show” to discuss the state of affordable housing in Glendale. Demand has typically far outstripped the supply of affordable housing in Glendale, despite a slate of development built over the past several years. Mooradian will likely discuss the length of current wait lists for housing vouchers and entry into the stock of affordable housing projects in Glendale and what plans the city has for future developments.

CITY HALL — As federal officials begin to investigate alleged fraud surrounding Advanced Development & Investment Inc., city officials are grappling with what it means for the dozens of low-income families hoping to move into the affordable housing developer's latest project. ADI — under federal investigation for allegations that the firm's top officials transferred millions to personal accounts and bilked cities out of millions in taxpayer dollars — has built four projects in Glendale and received nearly $34 million in city assistance.

The daily phone calls at City Hall from people seeking affordable housing options are a constant reminder of how demand continues to outstrip supply. And with the demise of local redevelopment, officials warn there's little chance of the trend reversing any time soon. “We hear these people and their situations on a daily basis,” said Peter Zovak, Glendale's deputy housing director. “We know it continues to be difficult.” For every new project, there are thousands of interested applicants.

Officials this week broke ground on a new affordable housing development that will feature 20 one- and two-bedroom apartments. The Catalina Development - funded by the city's Redevelopment Agency - will the first all-new residential project for the nonprofit Burbank Housing Corp., which will end up owning and operating the venture. The nonprofit typically rehabs existing buildings to use for low-income housing, but the Catalina property was “so substandard and severely blighted,” executive director Judith Arandes said, that nothing could be salvaged.

City officials this week tabled plans to use 1.5 acres in Northwest Glendale for affordable housing, choosing instead to explore turning the land into a park. During a meeting Tuesday, City Council members, acting in their dual role as the Housing Authority, said the parcel at Sonora Avenue and Fifth Street would be a prime location for a park. But since the site was purchased using affordable housing set-aside funds, the city will have to refund that money - $6 million - and tap the general funds.

Glendale housing officials plan to tap reserves in order to save an estimated 112 households from losing affordable housing vouchers as a result of the across-the-board federal spending cuts known as sequestration. City officials expect to lose at least $1 million in Section 8 money due to the automatic budget cuts, which would affect about 4% of the roughly 3,050 voucher recipients living in Glendale were it not for the reserves. "All the housing authorities are going through this," said Deputy Housing Director Peter Zovak after a City Hall meeting this week about the program.

Glendale's planned affordable housing development that will focus on veterans is getting a funding boost from the county. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday in gave the project $850,000 in county funds as part of a motion to issue $11 million to eight affordable housing developments across the county. They gave the recommendation a first reading, and the motion will be voted on at next Tuesday's meeting. Veterans Village, located at 327-331 W. Salem St., will include 44 units that give priority to veterans who qualify for low-income housing.

Glendale's oldest affordable housing complex is set to receive $20 million in private revenue bonds to help keep rent below market rates for residents at the 34-year-old building for another 55 years. It's a welcome extension since it may take at least 10 years to house the nearly 940 people on the closed waiting list for Casa de la Paloma's coveted one-bedroom apartments. Residents at the facility must be older than 55. Once they move in, they tend to either stay there for life or until they move into a nursing home.

One of the most complicated, important and obscure functions in California's state budget will begin on Thursday, as Gov. Jerry Brown's administration starts tallying up leftover funds from defunct redevelopment agencies. The agencies are being dissolved this year, and the Brown administration is counting on $3.1 billion in cash and property tax revenue to help close the deficit. The redevelopment money is being routed to local schools and community colleges, which lightens the load on the state budget.

Once slated for a multifamily housing project, to be built by an affordable housing developer that the city is now suing for fraud, a central Glendale site is on its way to becoming a “Veterans Village.” With a unanimous vote, the City Council, in its dual role as the Housing Authority, agreed to partner with an affordable housing developer on Tuesday to build a roughly $15.5-million project that will give preference to veterans. “It's a great day for Glendale,” said Mayor Frank Quintero, a Vietnam War veteran.

The daily phone calls at City Hall from people seeking affordable housing options are a constant reminder of how demand continues to outstrip supply. And with the demise of local redevelopment, officials warn there's little chance of the trend reversing any time soon. “We hear these people and their situations on a daily basis,” said Peter Zovak, Glendale's deputy housing director. “We know it continues to be difficult.” For every new project, there are thousands of interested applicants.

Another blow is coming by way of the New Horizons Family Center. Its lender, Bank of the West, has scheduled a foreclosure sale for the end of the month - a move that likely will prevent Glendale from recouping $16,000 the city is owed by the now-defunct nonprofit. The bank's roughly $1.07 million foreclosure sale is set for May 24. But Glendale is so far down on the list of creditors that it probably won't see a penny. “Unfortunately, it appears there may not be anything left over for us,” said city spokesman Tom Lorenz.

Six Glendale employees received layoff notices last week. They are the first of more than two dozen who are expected to be cut from the city's payroll due to the loss of local redevelopment revenues. The employees are split evenly between management and non-management staff and include two planning assistants, an economic development manager, a redevelopment project manager, a neighborhood services field representative and an administrative analyst, said city spokesman Tom Lorenz in an email.

The indictment against John Drayman on Tuesday was only the latest in legal woes the former city councilman has had to grapple with over the last several years. Some of his troubles - namely those associated with an expensive home remodel tied to an affordable housing developer accused of bilking Glendale of millions of dollars via inflated construction bills - came to light as he sought, and eventually lost, reelection. A look back at the major developments in the legal web Drayman has found himself in: INVESTIGATION Advanced Development and Investment Inc. - the Los Angeles-based developer responsible for most of Glendale's large scale affordable housing projects - has been under federal investigation for more than a year.

Six Glendale employees received layoff notices last week, the first of more than two dozen who are expected to be cut from the city's payroll due to the loss of local redevelopment revenues. The employees are split evenly between management and non-management staff and include two planning assistants, an economic development manager, a redevelopment project manager, a neighborhood services field representative and an administrative analyst, said city spokesman Tom Lorenz in an email.