June 22, 2004 - Community HousingWorks, a San Diego area NeighborWorks® organization, recently won the San Diego Housing Federation's Best of the Best Award for its new Hillside Village project. Abdi Abdul, resident manager at Bandar Salaam, another Community Housing Works property, was also honored as Best Resident Manager by the Federation.

The 71-unit Hillside Village, envisioned by the city of Poway, combines the best of city and country. The development is surrounded by 24 acres of city open space, yet is within walking distance of office park jobs, shopping, an elementary school, parks and a library. The complex includes 35 three- and six four-bedroom apartments, as well as 11 one- and 19 two-bedroom apartments, a computer learning center, walking paths and playgrounds, and a low-cost childcare center for 24 children from the larger community. Four apartments are set aside for families that include a member with developmental disabilities. The waiting list was closed after it topped 500 families. A family of four must earn less than $31,600—less than half of the county's median income—to be eligible for residency.

More than 40 percent of the new residents work in Poway. "The residents' jobs illustrate the range of San Diegans who need affordable housing – from mortgage department assistants to landscapers to assistant teachers, from dry cleaner clerks to electronics workers," noted Sue Reynolds, executive director of Community HousingWorks.

The project originated from a Poway city council decision in the mid-1990s to buy 32 acres of land and set it aside for affordable housing and open space. In 2001, the council also voted to make this a true "smart growth" project by increasing the project units from the fifty apartments originally planned and adding 21 unassigned units from the area plan. The complex began construction in February 2002. Nonprofit developer Community HousingWorks will retain long-term affordable ownership.

Affordable housing financing included a Poway Redevelopment Agency deferred loan of $3.6 million, a federal low-income tax credit investment of $8.8 million from Columbia Housing, and a Federal Home Loan Bank Affordable Housing Program deferred loan of $280,000. A 30-year loan from Washington Mutual Bank loan of $1.7 million completed the financing package.

For more information about Community HousingWorks, visit www.chworks.org.

For more information on the NeighborWorks Training Institute, visit www.nw.org or call (800) 438-5547.

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