North Bethesda, Md.
Timberlawn Crescent in North Bethesda is a mixed-income development providing 107 rental townhomes, as well as a community center, day care and outdoor recreation areas. Sixty percent of the units are affordable to low- and moderate-income, and 40 percent are market rate.
Developed by the Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County in 1991, Timberlawn Crescent uses a cross subsidy from the market-rate units to help reduce the rents on more affordable units within the development. A strong rental market, combined with low land-acquisition costs, tax-exempt financing, a property tax exemption and a state subsidy for the most affordable units, has helped make the development successful.
Santa Fe, N.M.
The mixed-income planned community of Nava Ade in Santa Fe uses cross subsidies to make 35 percent of its 513 units affordable to families earning a maximum of 120 percent of the area median income. Though the development was supported entirely by private funds, the city of Santa Fe made the project possible by relaxing its no-growth policy to incorporate the land into the city limits so the development would have access to water and sewer services. The planning commission was willing to take this step because it supported the community’s goal of providing affordable housing opportunities for moderate-income families in a mixed-income environment.
All of the community’s homes are single-family, for-sale units containing three or four bedrooms. Designs are based primarily on the traditional southwestern adobe style, and all units include features and amenities usually associated with luxury homes.
New York
In 2002, New York City introduced a variation of the 80/20 program in which city-controlled funds are used to bring 30 percent of the units down to levels affordable to moderate income families. The result is a 50/30/20 structure, in which 50 percent of the units are rented at market, 30 percent are affordable to middle-income households (earning less than 130 percent AMI) and the remaining 20 percent are affordable to families with incomes below 50 percent of AMI.
Hollywood, Calif.
In 2009, Legacy Partners of Hollywood, California completed a 375-unit, mixed-income, mixed-use development in Hollywood which cost more than $260 million. The development used an “80-20” structure in which 20 percent of units are affordable to households earning less than 50 percent of area median income and the remaining 80 percent rent at market rates. The Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency issued tax-exempt bonds to finance a low-interest mortgage. The tax-exempt bonds allowed the development to leverage additional equity through the 4 percent Low-Income Housing Tax Credit. The relatively high rents for the market-rate units in the Los Angeles market, combined with the bonds and tax credits, make it financially possible to offer below-market rents on 20 percent of its units. As of 2016, the project still reserves 75 units for households earning less than 50 percent of AMI as well as 3 units for moderate-income households.
Washington, D.C.
The Townhomes on Capitol Hill in Washington is a mixed-income limited equity cooperative developed through the HOPE VI program. It comprises 147 units, 134 of which are affordable to residents earning less than 115 percent of AMI and 13 of which are market rate. Income from the market-rate homes cross-subsidizes the below-market homes, enabling the cooperative to operate without ongoing public funding.
Alexandria, Va.
Chatham Square in Alexandria is a mixed-income development just blocks from the riverfront in the wealthy historic district of Old Town. Using HOPE VI funds and Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, the former 100-unit public housing complex was redeveloped in a partnership between the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority (ARHA) and the for-profit developer EYA.
Chatham Square comprises 100 high-end market-rate townhomes and 52 units of public housing, the facades of which are indistinguishable from one another and match the architectural style of the surrounding community.