Fighting to keep affordability as part of equation.MIXED-use is booming in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. . But convincing developers that low-income housing can pencil into the project is still a hit-or-miss affair. That's where Bill Harris Bill Harris can refer to several people. In arts:
As executive director of the Hollywood Community Housing Corp., Harris made believers out of Village Properties, a developer of Walgreens drug stores. He took a leadership role in the development of Views at 270, a mixed-use complex at Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades. and Western Avenue that features 56 low-income apartments above a store. "We had 14 months to do our due diligence Research; analysis; your homework. This term has caught on in all industries, because it sounds so "wired." Who would want to do analysis or research when they can do due diligence. See wired. , design the building, and secure our financing," Harris explained. "The commercial players were skeptical we had the skill-set. But of the 100 Walgreens that Village Properties has built, this the only one that came in on time." A product of Manhattan Beach Manhattan Beach, city (1990 pop. 32,063), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1912. It is a residential and beach community with an oil refinery and nearby factories that produce transportation and electrical equipment, computers, and pottery. , Harris worked for Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in Saudi Arabia before getting an M.B.A. in affordable housing from USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. . He became executive director of Hollywood Community five years ago. It's housed more than 2,000 residents scattered among seventeen buildings and 600 units since its formation in 1983. Harris structures each new building as a limited partnership, relying on funds from local and county agencies such as the Los Angeles Housing Department and the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles. Financing for Views At 270--roughly $22 million--is also cobbled cob·ble 1 n. 1. A cobblestone. 2. Geology A rock fragment between 64 and 256 millimeters in diameter, especially one that has been naturally rounded. 3. cobbles See cob coal. tr. from the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, the California Tax Credit Committee, the California Multi-Family Home Program and 4 percent tax credit public bonds. Not every mixed-use development has panned out. Hollywood Community recently tried to team up with Extra-Space Storage in the Pico-Union area. But the site could accommodate only 27 units and offered minimal job creation and Harris did not move forward. An ongoing challenge for Harris has been the perception that low-income tenants scare off retail buyers. The developer provides onsite resident managers, operating and replacement reserves, and quarterly inspections. And Harris personally walks each building with his staff looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. beer cans or other problems. Best Non-Profit Hollywood Community Housing Corp. Bill Harris, executive director Born: Pasadena, 1954 Accomplishments: Redeveloping scarred buildings such as the Palomar, which had a fatal arson fire, into senior housing. Quote: "Don't wait until it's a shotgun marriage between public and commercial interests. Invite the non-profit in early on any mixed-use development so we can determine if the project is suitable for affordable housing." |
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