Davis Affordable Ownership Housing Program offers diverse housing options
The new Grande Village neighborhood held a successful lottery the last weekend of February as part of Davis’ Affordable Ownership Housing Program (AOHP) in an effort to create diverse housing options who can’t afford current housing in the City of Davis.
The project’s inception began several years ago when the Davis Joint Unified School District (DJUSD) looked into putting the unused property on the market. Its aim was to increase the availability of housing for teachers and district staff members, especially those who are eligible for income-price restricted housing.
“Once the DJUSD decided that the site is no longer needed for a school site and that disposition of the site was necessary, it filed the necessary entitlement applications for the development of the site,” said Ike Njoku, a planner and historical resources manager at the City of Davis, in an email interview. “The goal was to generate the best and highest value for the site.”
Subsequently, Don Fouts, the owner of Fouts Homes and a developer of Grande Village, acquired the property from the school district. The development agreement for the real estate outlined that fourteen single-family homes would be sold at below market rates as part of the city’s AOHP; the remaining 27 homes will be priced at market value.
The below-market units would be sold through the lottery system set up by the city for price-restricted ownership properties. School district employees held priority in the lottery and were first in line for the property as outlined in the development agreement.
Eight of the homes are low-moderate income units for households that are no higher than 120 percent of the area median income (AMI) based on household size and annual gross income. Fouts will sell the other six homes as middle-income units for households that are no higher than 180 percent of the AMI.
Of the 14 homes available, 126 families entered the lottery, with the first 29 spots reserved for qualifying school district employees. David Achimore, a teacher at Davis High School, was the first name chosen in the lottery.
“I went into the lottery knowing that lots of people had applied,” said Achimore in an article from The Davis Enterprise. “It’s good to make the first step.”
In addition to the Grande VIllage development, two other projects are also underway as part of the AOHP: the Villages at Willow Creek and BerryBridge. The pre-application process for the Villages has ended; however, BerryBridge will be accepting applications until March 17.
“We have a lot of interest in that type of product [affordable single-family homes] in the community,” said Kelly Stachowicz, an assistant city manager. “A lot of people would like to be able to live here, usually because they work here, but they aren’t able to afford a market-rate unit.”
For more information on the AOHP and the breakdown of the AMI for households, visit the city’s website.
Written By: Bianca Antunez —city@theaggie.org
