Housing & Community Development RFP for professional services

The Orange County Department of Housing and Community Development is soliciting Request for Proposals from qualified individuals and planning consulting firms to provide professional services in the preparation of the Orange County HOME Consortium’s Five Year Consolidated Plan, Annual Action Plan and Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice. Specifically, this RFP is for the community engagement portion of the Plan to include the planning, coordination and execution of numerous community meetings, surveys and webinars and the qualitative data collection and analysis required to achieve full community engagement for preparation of the Plan.

The specific services requested by Orange County are detailed in the Request for Proposals. Copies also may be obtained from the Department of Housing and Community Development, 300 W. Tryon Street, 3rd Floor, Hillsborough NC 27278, during normal business hours. It is also available electronically by submitting a request to esutton@orangecountync.gov.

The deadline for submission of proposals is Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019, at 4 p.m. in the Department of Housing and Community Development, 300 W. Tryon Street, 3rd Floor, P.O. Box 8181, Hillsborough, NC 27278.

For more information or additional clarification, please contact:

Ms. Emila Sutton, Director

Orange County Department of Housing and Community Development

300 W. Tryon Street, 3rd Floor

P.O. Box 8181

Hillsborough, NC 2727

Telephone (919) 245-2490

Fax (919) 644-3056

Chapel Hill Expanding Efforts to Preserve Affordable Housing

The Chapel Hill Town Council recently reviewed and discussed a Draft Affordable Housing Preservation Strategy Framework to implement a strategic approach for preserving existing affordable housing in the Town, one of Town Council’s 2020-2022 Strategic Goals.  The Preservation Strategy is a tool to create a proactive and comprehensive approach to preserving affordable housing in town and mitigating the impact of redevelopment on low-moderate income residents.

The Town’s current preservation activities include funding homebuyer subsidy for purchasing homes and home repairs, supporting the Northside Neighborhood Initiative, and the Rental and Utility Assistance and Housing Displacement Assistance Programs, among other activities. The Town’s Preservation Framework calls for building on these strategies, scaling them, and implementing new strategies that will increase the Town’s ability to support preservation efforts. 

The three primary objectives of the Framework are to:

1.      Preserve existing affordable housing

2.      Improve or maintain quality of affordable housing, and

3.      Provide tenant protections and support for households at risk of displacement.

Many benefits come with preserving affordable housing, including: maintaining a range of housing options for residents, allowing residents to stay in their community, and retaining socioeconomically diverse neighborhoods.

Next steps for the Town are to implement Council feedback, refine and build out the Framework, then begin implementing Framework strategies in winter 2020.

Full Council meeting details, documents, and video can be viewed here.

Now Accepting Applications to Create Affordable Housing Opportunities

The Town of Chapel Hill is accepting applications to create affordable housing opportunities in the community through noon Wednesday, December 4, 2019.

Awards will be made from the Town’s Affordable Housing Development Reserve (AHDR), established by the Town Council in March 2015. Since its creation, the Town has supported the development of 286 units of affordable housing with funding from the AHDR. The total funding available this fiscal year in the Affordable Housing Development Reserve is $688,395.

The Town of Chapel Hill will accept applications for the following priority project areas:

• Land bank and land acquisition

• Rental subsidy and development

• Homeownership development and assistance

• Future development planning

The Town’s Housing Advisory Board will evaluate applications and present a funding recommendation to the Town Council for final approval in January 2020. There will be up to one additional funding cycle this fiscal year (July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020).

New this year, the Town is rolling out a streamlined application for all local affordable housing funding sources, including the AHDR. The application deadline is 12:00 pm Wednesday, December 4, 2019.  To access the application and learn more, visit http://bit.ly/2GBEtKV.

Affordable Housing Year in Review

Watch the Town of Chapel Hill's key affordable housing and community connections accomplishments over the past year.

In Fiscal Year 2019 (July 1, 2018 – June 30, 2019), the Town made more progress towards advancing Council’s affordable housing goals.  Highlights from the year include:

• Approval of a bond referendum to provide up to $10 million for affordable housing that was overwhelmingly approved by Chapel Hill voters in the November 2018 election.

• Deploying $1.2 Million to community partners for affordable housing development and preservation projects.

• Supporting the development of over 80 new affordable housing units and the preservation of nearly 150 units of affordable housing in the community, surpassing our annual target by nearly 20%.

• Completing phase two of Greenfield, the first low income housing tax credit project in over a decade in Chapel Hill, which added 69 units of affordable housing for low-income seniors.

• Acquiring nine units to our Transitional Housing Program. Our portfolio of homes now serves 17 families transitioning out of public housing to work towards their family’s housing and financial goals.

• Completing an analysis of Town-owned land to determine the feasibility of affordable housing development, and making progress toward developing a mixed-income affordable housing development on the Town-owned land on Homestead Road.

• Establishing new programs to respond to community needs, including the Housing Displacement Assistance Program and the Employee Housing Program.

For more information about our progress, see our quarterly reports here. 

Now Accepting Applications to Create Affordable Housing Opportunities

The Town of Chapel Hill is accepting applications to create affordable housing opportunities in the community through noon Friday, August 30, 2019.

Awards will be made from the Town’s Affordable Housing Development Reserve (AHDR), established by the Town Council in March 2015. Since it’s creation, the Town has supported the development of 286 units of affordable housing with funding from the AHDR. 

The total funding available this fiscal year in the Affordable Housing Development Reserve is $688,395.

The Town of Chapel Hill will accept applications for the following priority project areas:

1. land bank and land acquisition
2. rental subsidy and development
3. homeownership development and assistance
4. future development planning

The Town’s Housing Advisory Board will evaluate applications and present a funding recommendation to the Town Council for final approval in September 2019. There will be up to two additional funding cycle this fiscal year (July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020).

New this year, the Town is rolling out a streamlined application for all local affordable housing funding sources, including the AHDR.  To access the application and learn more, visit: https://www.townofchapelhill.org/town-hall/departments-services/housing-and-community/funding/affordable-housing-development-reserve

Recognized for Innovation: Chapel Hill’s Affordable Housing Data and Performance Measurement

A national organization focusing on innovation in local government has featured the Town of Chapel Hill’s use of data and performance measures to better understand the community’s complicated and growing affordable housing challenges.

Alliance for Innovation, a national network that connects local government thought-leaders through online discussion, in-person networking and events, hosted a webinar titled “How Performance Measures and Data Can Help Achieve Your Affordable Housing Goals.”

The Town of Chapel Hill’s Assistant Director for the Office for Housing and Community Sarah Osmer Viñas, and the Town’s Affordable Housing Manager Nate Broman-Fulks, focused on how Chapel Hill has turned to data and performance measures to better understand affordable housing challenges, inform decision making, track progress, and increase community knowledge about affordable housing. 

The Town collected and organized data from various data sources into a central database and then developed measurement tools to help monitor progress toward annual affordable housing goals. Data visualization tools like the Affordable Housing Dashboard and Affordable Housing Quarterly Report allow the Town to more clearly communicate its progress and make informed projections that assist in policy creation and investment for the future.

The Town will be presenting the most recent Affordable Housing Quarterly Report at the Town Council Business Meeting on Wednesday, May 22nd. 

For more information visit: https://www.chapelhillaffordablehousing.org/news

The full webinar can be viewed here: https://register.gotowebinar.com/recording/6913689930036266755

Town Holds Housewarming to Celebrate New Affordable Housing in Chapel Hill

Before renovations

After renovations

On Monday, April 29th, elected officials, affordable housing organizations, and community members gathered to hold a housewarming event and celebrate the opening of a new addition to the Town’s permanently affordable housing stock. This newly renovated quadraplex in the Northside neighborhood is the latest addition to the Town’s Transitional Housing Program stock.

The Town’s Transitional Housing Program is designed to assist low-income families working towards their housing and financial goals to transition from subsidized housing to homeownership or renting on the private market.

Collaborative Effort

This new 4-unit affordable housing property was created through a partnership between the Town of Chapel Hill and the Northside Neighborhood Initiative. In 2018, the Town acquired the quadraplex from Self-Help Credit Union through the Northside Land Bank and used Community Development Block Grants to conduct extensive renovations. With renovations complete, the first residents will be moving into their new homes at the beginning of May.

We Can End Homelessness in Orange County

Join the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness for a two-part series to find answers to questions such as:

• What does it mean to end homelessness?

• What does data tell us about homelessness in Orange County?

• What would ending homelessness in Orange County look like?

• What do we need to take this important step?”.

Both presentations will be 3:30-5 p.m. in the theater at the Seymour Center, 2551 Homestead Rd in Chapel Hill. Please find a flyer about both presentations attached.

• Wed. April 24: Homelessness 101 goes through current best practices in homeless services + the data on homelessness in Orange County. More info and registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/homelessness-101-tickets-59108996600
  

• Wed. May 1: Homelessness 201 takes a deeper dive into each of our local homeless system gaps to learn exactly what we need to do to end homelessness. More info and registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/homelessness-201-tickets-59109255374

The Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness is a coalition that comprises service providers, local governments, and community members who work together to coordinate funding and bring best practices to the work of ending homelessness. It is funded jointly by the towns of Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough; and Orange County. For more information, visit https://www.ocpehnc.com/. 

Download a flyer.

Town Council Approves over $450,000 in Funding for Three Affordable Housing Projects

The Chapel Hill Town Council has approved more than $450,000 in funding for three new affordable housing projects, including a new Habitat for Humanity development, a master leasing pilot program through Community Home Trust, and land acquisition assistance for Community Home Trust.

The Town is funding the projects through the Town’s Affordable Housing Development Reserve, a resource dedicated to the development and preservation of affordable housing. With the Town Council approval in February 2019, the Town has allocated all of its $690,000 reserve funds for the fiscal year.

Sunrise Road Project

Habitat for Humanity will use $266,797 to assist with land acquisition and predevelopment costs for the future development of 95 affordable homes off of Sunrise Road in Chapel Hill. This community is planned to be developed in partnership with Carol Woods, which is planning to build 128 units of assisted living and moderately priced market-rate homes for seniors. An additional $108,203 in funding is anticipated through the Town’s Affordable Housing Fund.

The project will target first-time homebuyers who earn less than 80 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI), have lived and/or worked in Orange County for at least one year, and live-in housing that is substandard, unsafe, unaffordable or subsidized. The planned vision is for a mixed-income, inter-generational neighborhood housing people of diverse ages, backgrounds, life stages and races. Construction is anticipated from 2022-2027.

Chandler Woods Acquisition

Community Home Trust will use reserve funding for two projects. One project is to acquire and resell townhomes being built in the Chandler Woods development. The other is to reduce costs of rental housing to households earning less than 30 percent of AMI through a master leasing pilot program in the Glen Lennox neighborhood.

The Chandler Woods project plans to use $90,000 in funding to acquire two three-bedroom units and four two-bedroom units, allowing Community Home Trust to sell the townhomes at affordable prices to qualified buyers. Three of the six units will be sold to buyers earning between 80 and 115 percent of AMI, while the other three will be sold to buyers earning between 65 and 80 percent of AMI. Each home will be sold using a 99-year ground lease, which will result in permanent affordability by limiting appreciation.

Master Leasing Pilot Program

The $97,324 awarded by the Town for Community Home Trust’s master leasing pilot program will assist with monthly rents, security deposits and utilities for families living in five Community Home Trust-subsidized apartments at reduced rates over a two-year time period. Employing a model that has not been used previously in Chapel Hill, Community Home Trust will lease near market rate apartments and sub-lease those apartments to program participants at lower, more affordable rent levels.

The project will target extremely low-income individuals and families earning less than 30 percent of AMI ($16,950 for a one-person household and $19,400 for a two-person household) who are either homeless, at risk of homelessness, or face obstacles to renting on the private market. Community Home Trust hopes to begin the rental process as soon as possible.

Chapel Hill's Manufactured Housing Work Featured in International Blog

An international blog has published a story about the Town of Chapel Hill’s efforts to use data-driven and community engagement solutions to address the redevelopment threat to manufactured home communities in Chapel Hill.

Esri, an international supplier of geographic information system (GIS) software, posted the Feb. 5 story at https://www.esri.com/about/newsroom/blog/maps-aid-affordable-housing-push-in-chapel-hill-north-carolina/  It offers a detailed picture of how the Town came together to use partnerships, engagement, and the ArcGIS mapping software to prioritize Town-owned land for new affordable housing development.

The use of immersive 3D maps helped staff visualize properties and possibilities to implement a Manufactured Home Strategy. One key component of the strategy is to identify Town-owned sites that could be used to develop new affordable housing and potential relocation options for manufactured home residents, if needed. An excerpt from the story: 

“In 2017, the residents and families living in a 33-unit mobile home park in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, received news from the property owner that within a year they would have to relocate so the property could be redeveloped. After the tight-knit community made an impassioned plea for help, the Chapel Hill Town Council mobilized a small team of Town employees to explore affordable housing options.”