Affordable Housing

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.

In an effort to shorten a lengthy waiting list for federal affordable housing vouchers, Glendale is considering running criminal background checks on 4,400 people who currently receive the help to make sure they still comply with the rules. The one-time check could find violators, thus making room for the more than 5,700 qualified people on the wait list. “We've got people on the waiting list who are law-abiding and deserving, and then we have people who choose to break the law,” Mayor Laura Friedman said Tuesday.

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.

CITY HALL - Glendale this week committed millions of dollars to a new affordable housing project for military veterans, making good on a pledge to provide more support for local veterans. The City Council, acting in its dual capacity as the Redevelopment Agency and as part of the Housing Authority, voted to commit roughly $4.5 million in federal and redevelopment housing funds to a proposed 48-unit multi-family development. The development is a joint venture between Glendale Memorial Hospital, national nonprofit housing developer Mercy Housing, and New Directions, a nonprofit veterans social-service provider.

That thousands of people would clamor to get onto a waiting list for affordable housing that already has thousands of names on it is a testament to the crushing demand that this and other cities will face for years to come. This week, 3,848 applicants took part in a lottery to get one of just 1,200 spots on the waiting list for Casa De La Paloma, an affordable senior housing complex on Kenwood Street. As Gov. Jerry Brown and legislators continue to press for the elimination of local redevelopment agencies to redirect their tax revenues to cash-starved Sacramento, cities like Glendale will lose a key tool for building affordable housing projects.

Nick Gharibian pressed his face against a window at the Glendale headquarters of a low-income housing organization on Wednesday, holding a neatly folded letter with “C1639” printed on it. It was one of 3,848 numbers included in a lottery to get one of just 1,200 spots on the waiting list for Casa De La Paloma, a senior housing complex on Kenwood Street in Glendale operated by be.group, formerly known as Southern California Presbyterian Homes....

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 — Amid legal efforts to recover millions in alleged construction overcharges from a Los Angeles-based affordable housing developer, officials are also moving to iron out complications related to a fifth Glendale project planned with the firm. The developer, Advanced Development & Investment Inc., is under federal fraud investigation for allegedly bilking cities out of millions with inflated construction invoices. Glendale paid ADI roughly $34 million since 2005 for four projects in south Glendale — some of which the city is trying to recover through a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

City officials this week pushed forward with a new affordable housing development aimed at military veterans and their families, to be built in conjunction with Glendale Memorial Hospital. The proposed 48-unit multi-family development at the hospital-owned property at 202 W. Los Feliz Road would be a joint venture between Glendale Memorial, national nonprofit housing developer Mercy Housing, and New Directions — a nonprofit veteran social service provider. The project was chosen from a range of veteran housing proposals on Tuesday as several affordable housing developers lobbied the Housing Authority for a share of the city’s limited subsidies.

CITY HALL — Glendale officials have filed a lawsuit seeking repayment from a Los Angeles-based affordable housing developer that allegedly bilked the city out of millions in construction overcharges. Glendale paid the developer, Advanced Development & Investment Inc., roughly $34 million since 2005 for four projects in south Glendale. But in the lawsuit filed last week in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the city claims some of that money was appropriated due to “fraudulent and inflated budgets, invoices, certifications and draws, as well as falsified accounting records, waivers and other loan documents.” ADI, which is also under federal fraud investigation, built 55 projects across the state.