CIHA invests in Mountain View
CIHA Invests in Mountain View
Cook Inlet Housing Authority (CIHA) has launched a new program focused on revitalizing some of Anchorage’s older neighborhoods. To date over $2.4 million has been spent in this effort and it’s anticipated that nearly $10 million will be invested by the time the first phase of the revitalization project is complete.
CIHA has chosen the Mountain View neighborhood as its first target area for the revitalization program. Redevelopment plans in this neighborhood are a culmination of two years of participation in Community Council meetings and planning meetings, as well as engaging with and listening to the wishes of community members based on a neighborhood wide housing survey.
Activities
Our approach to the overall Mountain View Neighborhood Revitalization Plan is a redevelopment of older deteriorating housing stock within the neighborhood over the next five years that takes advantage of a variety of funding sources. Phase one plans include:
- The acquisition of dilapidated and deteriorating properties in need of demolition or substantial rehabilitation. For those properties which are demolished, new quality and affordable homes will be built. To date, 22 sites have been acquired with 2 additional sites to be purchased in the near future. Most of the structures on the acquired properties were built in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. Four of the sites contain 4-plex or 5-plex structures built in the early 1970’s. Subject to the receipt of critical project funding sources, when the first phase of the redevelopment effort is complete, the project will contain 4 4-plexes and 20 single family homes.
Eight of the 20 new single family sites will be set aside for more immediate homeownership to low-income families. The remaining 12 single family sites will be single family rentals for low income families for a period of 15 years, and thereafter convert to homeownership units. The 4 4-plex multi-family properties will be substantially rehabilitated for low-income families to rent at affordable rates.
- Preservation of housing utilizing funding through a contract with the Municipality of Anchorage. While loans are made city-wide to rental and single family owners, through a Municipal contract, CIHA has low interest rate rehabilitation loan funds available to homeowners and owners of rental properties. These funds are ideal for Mountain View properties in need of rehabilitation. Through a matching contribution, CIHA will provide a grant to homeowners equal to 20% of the rehabilitation project cost (some conditions apply), while owners of multi-family properties must provide their own matching funds contribution.
CIHA’s “Neighborhood Revitalization Program” will provide initial investment capital in targeted neighborhoods with the intent of attracting private, local, state and other community investment necessary to improve the quality of housing in target neighborhoods, help low-income families become homeowners, reduce crime, and assist neighborhood organizations in achieving their community goals and managing their changing environments. With the participation of many critical partners such as the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, Municipality of Anchorage, and other private and community organizations we are confident that CIHA can be a catalyst for much needed investment in the housing stock, and ultimately in the quality of the living environment, within the targeted neighborhoods.