- Property: Shadow Hill Apartments
- Location: Santee, Calif.
- Renovation Cost: $15.8 million
- Project Scope: Redevelopment of a run-down, crime-infested, 60-unit complex of 15 two-story fourplex apartments into quality low-income housing for families
Daunting. That was the word John Seymour, director of acquisitions and forward planning for nonprofit developer Southern California Housing Development Corp. (SoCal Housing), used to describe the Shadow Hill apartment complex in Santee, Calif., when he first saw it in 1998.
The 60-unit complex of 15 two-story four-plexes was boxy, dilapidated, and ugly. The roofs were shot, numerous windows were boarded up, and the concrete sidewalks and driveways were broken or missing. A rusted chain link fence surrounded the property, and abandoned cars and refrigerators dotted the grounds.
So when Seymour was asked if SoCal Housing would consider renovating the project, he was skeptical. Shadow Hill seemed an almost impossible prospect for overhaul.
Yet the property fit SoCal's mission of providing not only affordable housing, but also a sense of community to low- and middle-income residents. For despite the squalor, numerous families still lived in Shadow Hill. In Southern California, it was all they could afford.
Today, Shadow Hill sports 42 two-bedroom and 40 three-bedroom gleaming white stucco apartments in a flower-laden setting. It provides housing to residents earning between 20 percent and 60 percent of the average median income and was a finalist for a 2005 NAHB's Pillars of the Industry award.
"We would never have moved into the old place," says resident Robert Pringle, 47, who was one of the first to move into the renovated Shadow Hill in 2002. "But now it's very nice, very clean overall. They do a great job."
Solving Problems
One of the first steps in the complex Shadow Hill project was getting support from those who already lived there.
"These are low-income families who tend to take the brunt of bad experiences," explains Jamie Minotti, senior program officer for Hope Through Housing, SoCal's sister social services organization. "So when they hear that their apartment building is being sold and a developer is going to come in and redevelop it, the first thing that comes to any person's ears, but specifically a low-income person's ears, is that they're going to be pushed out."
To calm residents and gain their support, Seymour and others at SoCal essentially went door-to-door to assuage resident concerns as well as garner a better sense of the property's condition. They held community forums and city-sponsored workshops. Those efforts paid off. Not only did 75 percent of the original residents remain after renovation, but some of the strongest opponents are today some of the complex's best volunteers, helping out at after-school programs, teaching adult education programs, and raising money for community activities.
The second major challenge was purchasing the properties, which was no small feat given that 16 different entities owned the 18 parcels. While most sold, other parcels had to be threatened with eminent domain by the city. It took nearly three years to complete the purchase of the property.
With so many owners, SoCal couldn't gain access to all properties before submitting cost estimates, hiring crews, and lining up funding. So its construction mangers had to estimate the project's scope just based on what they could see, explained Ashley Wright, SoCal's director of project development. "Many of the units were Band-Aided together and barely functioning as decent rental housing," he recalls.
"We've done a lot of rehab over the years, and it's always a surprise when we see the condition of these things," said SoCal construction manager John Taylor, who says the condition of Shadow Hill surpassed even his worst fears. The site itself yielded more surprises, recalls Seymour, all of which significantly impacted the project's budget. Drainage problems required new retaining walls and regrading of the entire site. New curbs, gutters, and, in some areas, streets were needed, while existing slopes had to be modified to conform to Americans with Disabilities Act requirements. And the discovery of a 68-inch city water line along the front of the site meant a 300-square-feet concrete slab to protect it while the front parking lot was replaced.
The result? Not only did SoCal give up its developer fee, it sank its own money into the project, funds it doesn't expect to recoup for at least 30 years, says Seymour. "I truly believe that if the SoCal Housing leadership didn't make the decision to move forward even though we were losing money, Shadow Hill never would have been completed and the city would have been left holding the project."
All told, it took 18 months to secure financing from eight different sources, the largest number of lenders ever on a SoCal project. But it was worth it.
With the changes in the physical structure of Shadow Hill have come changes in the attitudes of its residents. "You can see pride come back into the faces of these families," Minotti says. He recalls how one resident would never invite his family over because he was so ashamed of his surroundings. "After the renovation," said Minotti, "he held a huge family reunion in the community center. He was so proud of his new home."
–Debra Gordon is a freelance writer in Nazareth, Pa.
ACTION ITEMS
1 Get early buy-in from existing residents so they support the project and want to stay.
2 Involve subcontractors in the initial inspection to accurately assess the condition of existing buildings.
3 Involve a strong civil engineer in the project early to identify any site conditions.