Tackling Affordable Housing Issues & Building Vibrant Neighborhoods Iowa League of Cities Annual Conference - September 24-26, 2014 By: Christine Gordon & Justin Yarosevich

Speakers ▪ Christine Gordon – Housing Planner – City of West Des Moines – (Phone) – – (web) ▪ Justin Yarosevich – Assistant City Manager/City Clerk – City of Storm Lake – (Phone) – ( ) – (Web)

Presentation Goals ▪ What is housing? ▪ Neighborhood Approach ▪ Highlight Specific Programs – CDBG – Regional Approach – Sub-Division ▪ Questions & Sharing Other Examples from Attendees

What is housing? New Construction Low Income Housing Rehabilitation Senior Housing Rental Units Temporary Housing Transitional Housing Homeless Shelters

Neighborhood Approach - West Des Moines ▪ Valley Junction – original neighborhood of City – Floods caused an influx of investment into neighborhood – Main Street Community – Great American Main Street Community ▪ Prior to Floods of 1993 – Rehabilitation of homes had already began prior to Floods of 1993 – 100% of Valley Junction considered a flood plain – Planning on the Walnut Creek levee had already begun

Floods of 1993 Every business flooded 150 total 400 homes flooded

Valley Junction – Recovery ▪ 100 homes demolished ▪ 300 homes had some type of rehabilitation ▪ Businesses started to reopen within 2 weeks of flood ▪ Recovery took minimum of 6 years

Valley Junction – 20 years later ▪ New senior rental housing ▪ Owner-Occupied Rehabilitation Program ▪ New single family construction on infill lots ▪ Second Story rehabilitation ▪ Historic City Hall Rehabilitation ▪ Business Incubator ▪ Art Incubator – Artist Live/Work Units – conversion of 100 year old elementary school ▪ Historic Valley Junction Foundation

Income Comparison – 2005 to 2014 Census Block Group %44.05% %47.73% %34.6% %32.8%

Neighborhood Approach - Storm Lake ▪ Concept of a concentrated effort of improvement - East Side Sub- division

Neighborhood Approach – Storm Lake ▪ Phase 2Neighborhood Park & Phase 3 – Housing Rehabilitation

CDBG Housing Rehabilitation ▪ Program is administered by IEDA & is competitive ▪ Owner Occupied Program ▪ Forgivable Loans of up to $24,999 – forgivable at 20% per year over 5 years ▪ CDBG Program typically provides a large share of the funds (City has some matching funds)

Regional Approach to Owner-Occupied Rehabilitation ▪ Metro Home Improvement Program – 28E Agreement between 10 suburban cities in the Des Moines Metro – Administration is split among cities ~$5,000/year/city – Each city contributes $20,000 toward rehabilitation – matched with grant from Polk County Housing Trust Fund – Spend $12,500 per house – Complete 3-4 houses per city per year

City Owned Sub-Division 24 Lot Sub-Division Neighborhood Park Storm Water Features Medium level housing Revenue Generated By: TIF Lot Sales Includes 2 LMI Lots – Partnership with Habitat for Humanity

Questions & Other Examples From Your Community Thanks for attending our session!