Irvine, CA – Jamboree Housing Corporation, one of California’s largest active affordable housing developers, today announced the grand opening of Doria Apartment Homes on Wednesday, October 19, 2011 at 11:00 a.m. Program participants include Irvine Mayor Sukhee Kang, Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Campbell, Irvine City Councilmembers, Irvine Community Land Trust (ICLT) officials and Jamboree executives. Interview and photo opportunities plus a property fact sheet and photos are available.
Doria is the first rental property to be developed and completed by Jamboree in joint venture with the ICLT, which has helped lead the charge to establish a permanent source of affordable housing in Irvine, and is the only land trust established by a cooperative municipality in Southern California.
In addition to these significant milestones, the grand opening of Doria Apartment Homes represents another important “first” for Jamboree.
“We’re excited that Doria is the first rental development for the ICLT,” said Laura Archuleta, president of Jamboree. “We are equally pleased that it includes 10 homes for residents with special needs. Moving forward, our goal is to designate at least 10% of the homes at each of our new construction properties to people with special needs. These are folks already living in our community and permanent supportive housing is critical to providing stability for them. Doria is the first such property.”
The City of Irvine shares in Jamboree’s enthusiasm for Doria. “This project moves forward our long-term commitment to provide a full spectrum of housing,” says Sukhee Kang, Mayor of Irvine. “A mix of affordability in our housing is critical to the long-term success of our economy and our community.” In fact, Mayor Kang underscores that public/private collaboration with partners such as Jamboree is why Irvine continues to boast the greatest ratio of affordable housing units in Orange County.
The community land trust leased-land model is still a relatively new structure in California, but it is a familiar model to many in Irvine because the University of California Irvine has long used land leases to preserve affordability of faculty/staff housing at its University Hills community on the Irvine campus.
According to Mary Ann Gaido, president of ICLT, Doria is a strategic first step in realizing the land trust’s goal to provide 5,000 new units of permanent affordable housing in the City by 2025. “That equates to the land trust contributing more than 50% of Irvine’s overall affordable housing goal in the next 15 years.”
Since Irvine is well served by existing for-profit and nonprofit affordable housing developers such as Jamboree, the ICLT doesn’t need to serve as a developer, but instead can acquire land and housing units, and focus on long-term affordability and stewardship. According to Gaido, the ICLT already has plans for Phase II at Doria which, when complete, will encompass an additional 74 apartment homes.
Known for its resourcefulness with public/private partnerships, Archuleta points to the financial structure for the Doria development as a premier example of creative financing to fund workforce housing. To complete Doria, a variety of local funding sources were tapped, including the ICLT, the City of Irvine and the Irvine Redevelopment Agency.
Combined, these three entities provide a total of $2 million in loans for the $18 million development. The Irvine Company donated the three-acre site as part of the company’s agreement with the City to provide affordable housing within Irvine’s “northern sphere.“ Other financial partners include the County of Orange, Orange County Health Care Agency, The Irvine Company and U.S. Bank.
Another important financial aspect is the extraordinary flexibility demonstrated by the County of Orange as a key funding source. “Jamboree continues to be a great partner, especially in the current economy,” says Bill Campbell, Orange County Supervisor, 3rd District, and chairman of the Board of Supervisors. “We’re proud to integrate special needs housing here at Doria, made possible in part by the $1 million in Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) funding.” This is the second property to incorporate such funding towards the County’s goal of 185 homes – and 20% of these homes have been developed by Jamboree. Campbell notes that “Jamboree’s experience and attention to detail ensures that each property will satisfy the needs of future residents as well as the specific requirements of each development partner. A commitment to successful partnerships is a major reason why Jamboree consistently receives the most County funds of any nonprofit developer in Orange County.”
Located at 1000 Crested Bird, a quarter mile from both the Woodbury Town Center and “The Commons,” Doria is an integral part of the Stonegate Master Plan being developed by the Irvine Company in Northern Irvine. Completed in less than 10 months, from ground breaking to grand opening, residents and guests alike will benefit from Jamboree’s “best of design” learnings developed over two decades of experience. KTGY Group, Inc. provided Doria’s Spanish Colonial-style architectural design that integrates seamlessly with the aesthetic fabric of the surrounding Stonegate community of Irvine.
Doria features 60 apartment homes in two- and three-story garden-style buildings designed around a central courtyard. The front walkway features pavers engraved with the names of residents and Jamboree supporters. These pavers – sold during Jamboree’s 20th anniversary year in 2010 – provide a visual legacy of the importance of affordable housing for generations to come. Doria’s first 60 residents will also have the opportunity to add a paver of their own to the walkway, courtesy of Wermers Multi-Family Corporation, Jamboree’s general contracting partner on the development.
Situated near the community center and oriented for optimal sunshine is Doria’s community garden – one of the first at a Jamboree property. This gives residents access to their own “plot” on a first come, first served basis. This distinctive community garden program is being developed to provide residents with a “green thumb” the opportunity to grow food, flowers and plants, underscoring Jamboree’s value for healthy living.
Residents will have ample opportunity to gather in an 3,000-square-foot community center featuring both large and smaller meeting spaces, management offices, a kitchen, computer lab and tot lot. The adjacent community center pool features a handicap lift.
Each Doria apartment home is equipped with an ENERGY STAR refrigerator, dishwasher, stove and microwave, and the property exceeds Title 24 energy efficiency standards by approximately 15%. This lowers resident energy consumption, provides a cost-saving benefit to residents and promotes the health of residents – all-important components in Jamboree’s commitment to sustainability. Parking includes a combination of tuck-under garages, on-grade spaces and stand-alone garage buildings.
Resident services are provided onsite by Jamboree’s Resident Services Group. Offered at more than 38 of its properties, Jamboree’s onsite resident services coordinator provides resident services – tailored to the specific needs of Doria residents – that foster learning, health, and community building to enrich their quality of life. The inclusion of fully funded, ongoing supportive services will enable the handful of residents with special needs to live in permanent housing with a stable environment. CHOICES, the Orange County Healthcare Agency’s Full-Service Partner, will assist residents with 24/7 availability for support of daily living activities, assist them with job placement, and link them to other supportive and independent living services.
About ICLT: Established in 2006 by the City of Irvine, the Irvine Community Land Trust (ICLT) creates permanent affordable home ownership, rental and special needs housing opportunities. It is the city’s key entity to ensure full spectrum housing for residents of all income levels. Doria is ICLT’s first joint venture development with Jamboree and a strategic first step in realizing its goal to provide 5,000 units of permanent affordable housing in the City by 2025. When achieved, this will equate to more than 50% of the City’s vision of 9,700 affordable units by that same year. ICLT is one of Southern California’s first Community Land Trusts (CLT) – and the only one established by a cooperative municipality. The community land trust model balances the interests of individual homeowners and renters with the public interest in the preservation of scarce public resources, providing homeowners with housing security, equity and a legacy to leave their heirs, all at an affordable price and providing renters with a stable and affordable housing opportunity. For more information, go to www.irvineclt.org.
About Jamboree: Founded in 1990, Irvine, CA-headquartered Jamboree Housing Corporation is an award-winning, broad-based nonprofit housing development company that develops, acquires, renovates and manages permanently affordable rental and ownership housing throughout California for working families, seniors and people with special needs. HOMES, Inc. and Housing with HEART are 501(c)(3) organizations and comprise Jamboree’s Resident Services Group. A leading nonprofit developer, Jamboree is committed to sustaining excellence with high quality affordable housing that is good for the environment, the economy and local communities. It currently has about $250 million in affordable housing projects in its development pipeline and a $1 billion asset portfolio that includes the development of and/or ownership interest in more than 6,700 homes in more than 64 California communities. Currently, Housing with HEART programs and services that foster learning, health and community building are offered at 38 Jamboree communities with designated staff at each location. For more information, go to www.jamboreehousing.com.