Bank of America's 1999 Low-Income Housing Challenge Cultivates Student 'developers'; Experience may shape future low-income developments.

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 30, 1999--

The plans presented today by students from San Francisco State and U.C., Berkeley for two low-income housing developments in San Francisco may or may not ever get built.

But by becoming engaged in the complex realm of affordable housing, the students will walk away with a new understanding of how to meet the challenge of this critical community need.

Their proposals to transform property at Sixth and Mission into a low-income 34-unit family housing and retail development, and to create low-income senior housing in the heart of Bernal Heights, were evaluated today by a panel of judges comprised of well-known individuals in the San Francisco low-income housing field, including non-profit developers, tax credit investors, bank officers, architects, housing officials and financial consultants.

The judges decided that both projects were well thought out and carefully crafted and deemed the competition a tie. It was the first time in the 8-year history of the Challenge that two entries tied.

The Challenge

Designed to educate, strengthen and increase resources available to the non-profit affordable housing community in California, the Bank of America Low Income Housing Challenge is a competition among local universities to stimulate the creation of complete and realistic proposals for new housing developments for low-income residents. In its eighth year, the Bank of America Challenge has become an industry institution that provides a forum for students and housing professionals to learn from each other.

"While some of our past Bank of America Low-income Housing Challenge winners are in the advanced planning stages of seeing their projects built, we see that as a bonus," said Carrie Roberts, Bank of America Community Development Banking Group, who oversees the program.

"This challenge is really about getting students interested in making a difference in their community, then exposing them to the low-income housing community and giving them a chance to see the inner-workings of development. The students benefit from the working relationships they establish with the affordable housing community -- the very people they will be working with once they graduate. The industry professionals, in turn, benefit from the new ideas generated by the teams," added Roberts.

The proposals must meet specific criteria, and are not limited to new construction projects. Plans may include drawings and photographs, and are judged on project financing (40%), community support (30%), project design (20%), and plan for winnings (10%). The student teams will see $5,000 and $3,000, respectively, in prize money donated to the pre-chosen charity described in the "plan for winnings" segment of their project proposals.

The multi-phased process began in late January. Preliminary proposals were submitted in March, followed by several discussion and feedback sessions, concluding with today's final presentations to the judges. Participants were funded with up to $1,500 to cover expenses incurred during the Bank of America Challenge.

The Proposals

"Mission Court Apartments"

U.C. Berkeley students Dan Adams, Karin Arnold, Evan McDonald, Mariel Gonzales, and Monica Wilson, proposed the creation of a 34-unit family housing development over ground floor retail space on a 12,400 square foot site at 65-99 Sixth Street between Jessie and Mission Streets. This site, in a heavily blighted area, anchors the Sixth Street corridor and serves as a gateway between the Western part of the South of Market Area and the rest of San Francisco through the Market Street transportation node.

Their proposal offers a mix of 4 studio, 13 one-bedroom, 7 two-bedroom and 10 three bedroom apartments; 1,000 square feet of small business space; 2,500 square feet for a multimedia training center; and 8000 square feet for a multimedia business. They hope to "catalyze future economic development by recapturing the importance of the Sixth Street corridor as a major thoroughfare and pedestrian circulation route; rejuvenate West SOMA by increasing family presence; and provide retail space that serves the needs of neighborhood residents and stimulates economic activity."

They plan to use any prize money to provide targeted technical assistance to Mission Court's commercial tenants. Prize winnings could also be invested into the proposed Multimedia Training Center to assist in creating linkages between UC Berkeley students and South of Market's multimedia community, such as funding an internship to promote community outreach.

"Seniors on Mission"

S.F. State students Carol Kennedy and Raquel Gutierrez presented plans for a four-story affordable housing project targeted toward low-income seniors which combines a senior center and a childcare center with a remodeled Bank of America branch, at 3250 Mission. "Sandwiched between Mission Street and Tiffany Avenue, with an 'L-shaped' design," their proposal replaces the existing bank branch with a new branch, 61 housing units, and a community center and a childcare center to accommodate ten infants and ten children. Acknowledging the long waitlists for existing affordable housing, they aspire to benefit seniors through their plan's creation of new housing units. Their proposal also calls for a courtyard, children's play yard, and rooftop vegetable garden.

Their plan calls for the donation of potential winnings to the existing "Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center" which is dedicated to assisting elders in the community through a variety of social services and social events. This includes a lunch program, paratransit van service, emergency meals and a support tea to reach out to frail and isolated elders. In their proposal the students said, "It is (the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center's) dedication to the elders in the community that has inspired us throughout the research and production of this project."

Bank of America, with $614 billion in total assets, is the largest bank in the United States, with full-service consumer and commercial operations in 22 states and the District of Columbia. Bank of America provides financial products and services to 30 million households and 2 million businesses, as well as international corporate financial services for business transactions in 190 countries. Bank of America stock (ticker:BAC) is listed on the New York, Pacific and London stock exchanges and certain shares are listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. For more information, please visit www.bankamerica.com and www.nationsbank.com.