Affordable Housing

CITY HALL — A partner of PATH Achieve Glendale is attempting to acquire two South Glendale properties that once were slated to host a New Horizons childcare center. PATH Ventures — a nonprofit housing developer under the umbrella of the People Assisting The Homeless, or PATH, is in escrow to buy the vacant properties in the 1200 block of South Maryland Avenue that for years were intended to host a $4.7-million expansion project for New Horizons Family Center. Facing significant cash-flow issues, New Horizons founder Maria Rochart last fall scrapped plans for the “Children's Village” project and announced she had placed the property on the market.

The Glendale News-Press has posted the two memos that raised the most pointed concerns about the Vassar City Lights project on San Fernando Road, built by Advanced Development & Investment Inc., which allegedly bilked the city out of millions of dollars in inflated construction charges.

Glendale News-Press Editor Dan Evans is scheduled to appear live on "The Larry Zarian Show" to discuss the latest in the developing story of Advanced Development & Investment Inc., the affordable housing company accused of fraud that also allegedly funneled thousands in campaign contributions to City Council members. Evans will also likely discuss the ongoing quest by the Burbank Leader, a sister paper of the News-Press, to obtain detailed city employee bonus payment data, and more definitive answers from Glendale Community College on why its police chief and lead captain were reportedly placed on administrative leave.

The Glendale City Council on Tuesday voted to issue subpoenas to an affordable housing developer that allegedly bilked the city out of millions in construction overcharges — laying the groundwork for potential litigation to recover the losses. The move came in a joint meeting with the Housing Authority, which includes the five council members plus two additional appointments, less than a week after the Los Angeles Times and Glendale News-Press reported that the developer, Advanced Development & Investment Inc., was under federal investigation for allegedly transferring millions of dollars to personal accounts and submitting fraudulent bills to cities across the state.

The city's role in the alleged over-billing of Advanced Development & Investment Inc. for at least one Glendale affordable housing project, Vassar City Lights, was a major topic of discussion during the public comment period of the City Council meeting Tuesday night. Nearly two dozen residents were split between distrust and support of those on the dais. "What I wanted to know is council members: Are you going to return all the alleged funds?" said resident Charles Hooker.

CITY HALL — With the city's main affordable housing developer embroiled in allegations that it defrauded Glendale and other cities of millions of dollars, Mayor Ara Najarian this week called for a new approach to providing housing for low-income residents. At the Housing Authority meeting on Tuesday, Najarian questioned the city's current policy of purchasing property to construct affordable housing buildings, which have required subsidies of up to $200,000 per unit and total development costs reaching as high as $500,000 per unit.

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.

City Manager Jim Starbird acknowledged this week that there were signs that not all was as it seemed with Advanced Development & Investment Inc. — the affordable-housing firm embroiled in a federal fraud investigation that, in the past five years, has received nearly $34 million in city assistance. Starbird said he was "tremendously concerned" by allegations that ADI executives fraudulently transferred up to $80 million in company assets to personal accounts, and potentially gave improper gifts or donations to public officials.

CITY HALL — City officials are bracing for the fallout as federal prosecutors investigate the developer of affordable housing projects in Glendale and other cities — Advanced Development & Investment Inc. — on fraud and other allegations. The allegations stem from a report by court-appointed receiver David Pasternak as part of a divorce proceeding involving the company's former president, Salim Karimi, and Jannki Mithaiwala, the daughter of company founder Ajit Mithaiwala.

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.