IRVINE, CA – Birch Hills Apartment Homes, a 115-unit workforce housing property Jamboree Housing Corporation built within a planned urban village in the City of Brea, CA, received honorable mention for Green Housing at the 22nd Annual Charles L. Edson Tax Credit Excellence Awards today at the Rayburn House congressional office building in Washington, D.C. Jamboree’s affordable housing development was one of only two properties in California recognized with an award this year.
Presented to the most outstanding Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (Housing Credit) properties in seven categories by the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition, the Edsons convene each year on Capitol Hill members of Congress, businesses and organizations to celebrate Housing Credit developments at the forefront of creating stronger, healthier communities in urban, suburban and rural areas nationwide.
The Housing Credit is America’s and California’s main tool for creating and preserving affordable rental housing. “The Edson Awards recognize the Housing Credit’s ability to strengthen lives, communities and the economy, and this year’s winners remind us how vital the program is not only in California but nationwide,” said Anthony J. Alfieri, president of the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition. “As the primary source of financing for affordable housing, the Housing Credit must be expanded to make more developments like Birch Hills possible.”
“We are honored that Birch Hills was recognized with an Edson as one of the most outstanding Housing Credit developments in the country,” said Laura Archuleta, president of Jamboree. “Birch Hills established what we believe are new levels of design and sustainability for affordable housing that set higher performance standards for our company as well as for our industry. Birch Hills furthered our development goal of designing and building properties that compete aesthetically and functionally with market-rate projects.”
Birch Hills is located within the La Floresta urban community and embraces smart growth principles and is ideally situated near major retail, entertainment, parks, community services, and robust employment centers. A public/private partnership with the City of Brea and Chevron Land & Development, the developer of La Floresta, financing for Birch Hills consists of $2 million in HOME Funds provided by the County of Orange through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and $10.77 million in Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) equity invested by Union Bank through the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (TCAC). Union Bank also provided $17.94 million in construction financing and $6.7 million in permanent financing. The project funding also included $4.75 million in redevelopment funds that were earmarked by the City of Brea prior to the termination of California’s redevelopment agencies.
Resident services provided by Jamboree at Birch Hills include such activities as homework assistance and tutoring for young people, plus health and wellness programs and community-building activities for all residents. KTGY Group, Inc. of Irvine, CA was the project architect and Portrait Homes of Corona, CA was the general contractor.
A panel of four judges selected seven first place winners and eleven honorable mentions for this year’s awards program. The Edson Awards, given annually by the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition, are named for Charles L. Edson, an affordable housing luminary who was Transition Director for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on President Carter's Transition Staff. Mr. Edson served in the Office of the General Counsel at HUD and was for nearly 40 years Co-Editor-in-Chief of Housing and Development Reporter. He is a founding partner of the law firm Lane and Edson, and was later a partner of Nixon Peabody LLP.
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. Currently, Jamboree has $320 million in its development pipeline and a $1.1 billion asset portfolio that includes the development of more than 8,200 homes in 88 California communities. A leading nonprofit community development organization, Jamboree is committed to sustaining excellence with high quality affordable housing that benefits the environment, the economy and local communities. With housing as a platform, Jamboree offers free onsite resident services that foster learning, health and community building at 35 Jamboree communities with designated staff at each location. For more information, go to www.jamboreehousing.com.
ABOUT THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING TAX CREDIT COALITION
The Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition represents syndicators, developers, lenders, institutional investors, nonprofit groups, public agencies, and other allied professionals (including accountants, lawyers, and compliance specialist) concerned with the Housing Credit program. The Coalition, a nonprofit corporation chartered under the laws of the District of Columbia, is governed by an elected Board of Directors. Please visit www.taxcreditcoailtion.org for more information about joining the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition. The Housing Credit program was created as part of the Tax Reform Act of 1986. Today, the Housing Credit is widely regarded as the nation’s most successful housing production program ever. The housing credit has financed more than 2.8 million affordable apartments, supporting 95,000 jobs each year, mostly in the small-business sector.