Affordable Housing Finance (AHF) recently announced winners of its 2014 Readers’ Choice Awards and two NHC members were among the award recipients. Mercy Housing won in the family and seniors categories for its Caroline Severance Manor development in Los Angeles and Coast Side Senior Housing in Half Moon Bay, Calif., respectively. National Housing Trust (NHT) received top honors in the preservation category for Pullman Wheelworks in Chicago, an honor shared with Mercy Housing and Enterprise Preservation Corporation.
Mercy Housing and NHT were among 132 nominees, narrowed down to just 34 finalists across nine categories. Finalists were selected by AHF readers with judging criteria based on community impact, creative problem solving, innovativeness and more. Winners were honored in a special ceremony during AHF Live: The 2014 Affordable Housing Developers Summit held in Chicago last November. They were also featured in the November/December issue of Affordable Housing Finance.
Pullman Wheelworks, located in Chicago’s Pullman neighborhood, features 210 affordable multifamily rental units with green upgrades. The development offers employment training and education services to tenants and is currently under renovation to accommodate future tenants who may have physical disabilities.
Severance Manor caters to families with children being raised by relatives other than parents and features one- to four-bedroom affordable units. Mercy Housing worked with California Community Foundation Land Trust and the First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles to develop a mixed-use community with licensed child-care center and parking for the church. Coast Side Senior Housing features 40 one-bedroom units in a mixed-use development for extremely low-income older adults near downtown Half Moon Bay. The development is a key component to San Mateo County’s plan to integrate more senior housing in the downtown Half Moon Bay area.