Workshop Recap: First "How We Got It Built" Webinar Series
On Tuesday, April 20th SCANPH convened for a new recurring webinar series in which a SCANPH developer member presents one project in 30 minutes to share lessons learned from its unique path to completion. This first session highlighted Many Mansions' Ormond Beach Villas to demystify the affordable housing development process. Ormond Beach Villas is Ventura County’s first and only permanent housing for veterans. Since the property was designed to encourage community engagement, Many Mansions regularly met with the Veteran Collaborative of Ventura County to ensure that the building satisfied community needs and established lasting relationships.
Since Ormond Beach Villas is located in an affordable housing overlay, the property was able to mitigate potential environmental issues and neighborhood opposition. Many Mansions altered the original unit mix to make minor modifications to stay within the general design and building footprint. What started out as a vacant, former junk lot successfully transformed into GreenPoint rated homes for formerly homeless veterans, as well as veteran heads of households.
Although funding was fully committed, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 created a $1,000,000 funding gap almost overnight. Fortunately, Many Mansions had a partnership with LA Family Housing, allowing for the ability to assemble a VHHP application in just a few weeks at the last minute, bringing the major fundings sources to eight. Additional construction challenges included a high water table and unstable soils due to ocean proximity. Many Mansions also dealt with existing transformer issues related to SoCal Edison’s point of connection.
Overall, key lessons learned from the Ormond Beach Villas project emphasize the importance of developing strong junior venture partners, as well as heavily involving asset management and property management services in the early stages of development. To address neighborhood security concerns, the Ormond Beach Villas partnered with the local police department to obtain security feedback. By allocating extra time for lease-up and permanent conversions for veteran developments, you too can Get It Built!