Affordable Housing

CITY HALL — Financial assistance for first-time home buyers looking at 40 upcoming affordable housing units could grow with the possible expansion of a Doran Street project, as city officials today seek permission to submit another state funding request. After submitting a grant application in September for $810,000 in mortgage assistance funds for a two-story, 35-unit residential project on 339 W. Doran St. — of which 24 would be priced for low- and moderate-income households — housing officials in October were authorized to negotiate an agreement with the developer to expand the project to include a $4.8-million parcel on 331 W. Doran St. that the city had bought a few weeks earlier.

Josh Kleinbaum Despite protests from neighbors who would like to see an abandoned building in Adams Hill preserved as artist lofts, the Glendale City Council approved a development agreement with Habitat for Humanity on Tuesday to replace the building with a three-unit affordable-housing project. The council unanimously approved the Habitat for Humanity project at a joint meeting with the city's Redevelopment Agency and Housing Authority, citing Habitat's track record.

This commentary by Roberta Gutierrez is really something. Supply and demand is not an interesting concept; it is the way the world works, except when some government authority decides it is "unfair" and puts some controls on, which invariably makes things worse. Often a lot worse. What any item or service is worth is what someone else will pay you for it. Government meddling in the marketplace sets a "political" price, resulting in either the buyer or the seller being robbed.

Upon reading Mr. Carlson's recent commentary of May 14 in support of rent control, I had to be alarmed at the numerous misleading notions. He claims that there have been no statistics presented against rent control, and no alternatives have been given. Both statements are false. As a matter of fact, more facts/statistics have been presented against rent control than for it. Several groups presented alternatives for the current housing crunch, yet Mr. Carlson continues to blindly ignore them.

SOUTH GLENDALE — Officials on Tuesday heralded the addition of two affordable housing developments at the city’s southernmost edge on San Fernando Road that will eventually add 140 apartments to a mostly industrial area. “It’s part of an overall strategic plan for the city,” Councilman Frank Quintero said at the ceremony dedicating the 68-unit Glendale City Lights, at 3673 San Fernando Road. The $36.4-million project received $9.8 million in city assistance and is already occupied.

CITY HALL — To ease fears caused by a weak, unstable market, city officials today will consider reducing the amount of fees developers can pay in lieu of including affordable housing units in their projects. Five developments proposed for the San Fernando Road Corridor Redevelopment area totaling 823 units could be affected by any move the City Council, together with the Housing Authority, makes today to amend the current policy, in which developers can pay into a city-administered housing fund rather than include affordable units.

CITY HALL ? Legal and financial fears over possible changes to how developer fees are collected for affordable housing prompted the City Council on Tuesday to postpone the issue for a week of further review. A last-minute proposal to essentially defer the payment of affordable housing fees to the city by developers until they sell their market-rate condominiums ? instead of when the building is constructed ? gained tentative support Tuesday, but the potential legal and financial ramifications to the city and developers prevented a final decision until the idea could be studied further.

GLENDALE — Edith Bouvet waited five years before she was chosen off a waiting list to move into Casa De La Paloma, the city’s first affordable housing development. Ten years later, she said she is grateful to have a safe and inexpensive place to live. “It’s a blessing for me to live there,” said Bouvet, 83. She was one of more than 200 residents who joined with city and federal officials at the MGM Hall to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Casa De La Paloma at 133 S. Kenwood St. Thirty years later, the city offers a variety of affordable housing complexes subsidized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, with several more under construction.

GLENDALE ? A planned storefront library in Adams Square will get $312,000 in state bond money in the next few weeks as a reward to the city for one of its affordable-housing projects, state officials said. The money comes from the California Department of Housing and Community Development, and is earmarked for capital improvement projects. "In this case, Adams Square is our first storefront library," said Madalyn Blake, director of community development and housing. "It's badly needed in Adams Square, and we really needed the money for that library."