Land Stewardship at TODs Does It Work?

Land Stewardship at TODs Does It Work?

Urban Land Conservancy (ULC) 501(c)(3) nonprofit, supporting organization to the Denver Community Foundation. Established 2003, staffed 2007 Mission: To acquire, develop, and preserve urban community assets in Metro Denver Invested $48 million in real estate, (leverages over $250M) serving over 10,000 low and moderate income people 700 full and part-time jobs are supported by ULC real estate investments Promote community development; strengthen neighborhoods through preservation of key areas of influence to ensure their continued public benefit Acquire strategic sites in anticipation of market changes through land banking along transit corridors When possible use a 99 year land lease with partners to ensure permanent stewardship of the improvements/buildings

Medici Communities, LLC Medici provides services and expertise around affordable projects in the following areas: Collaboration and Planning Development Construction Management To date, Medici s 16 projects total over $165 million in construction and include affordable developments in urban and rural areas of Colorado.

Making the case for Land Stewardship with the Metro Denver transit build out 2.6 Million People in the Region In 2004, voters approved the $4.7 billion expansion of rail and bus service for the region to be completed by 2017. New cost to complete is $6.7B 122 miles of new light rail and commuter rail. 18 miles of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service 50+ new rail and/or BRT stations for Transit Oriented Communities (TOC) opportunities 2007 Enterprise Communities Study: 155,000 units of housing will be added by 2030 at TOC, with at least 62,000 of these units needed to be affordable (more than doubling the current restricted affordable housing)

There are 1,183,000 homes in Metro Denver. Only 3.6% of these homes (43,300) are restricted affordable (95% rental) 8% of Denver s 283,700 homes are restricted affordable (94% rental) 2% of the homes outside of Denver are restricted affordable Only 77 restricted affordable for sale homes have come from the Denver s IHO program in 10 years.

ULC Land Stewardship Partnership with Medici Partnership with Medici

Making the case for Land Stewardship at Denver s TODs: Jody Apartments Jody Apartments are less than 300 feet from the Sheridan transit station along the West Corridor, adjacent to a 800 car park-and-ride to serve the station Total acquisition and rehab: $3.25 million = $52,400 per unit/ $36 sq. ft. ULC owns 2 acres of land and has a 99-year lease with a local nonprofit that owns the improvements. Future redevelopment will have at least 200 mixed income apartments & 25,000 sq. ft. of commercial/ community space Total Redevelopment Costs: Up to $45M

Land Stewardship at mixed use sites: Mile High Vista Currently under development, ULC served as the master developer, partnering with the City of Denver and Del Norte Housing (nonprofit developer) to build: New Westside Public Library (27K sq. ft.) Residential mixed use: 80 units of workforce housing + 10k sq. ft. of community space Commercial building CLT: 20k sq. ft. along Colfax Av Housing Developed by Del Norte Total acquisition, brown field remediation and infrastructure : $5.25M = $52 sq. ft. Development Costs: Library: $12 million Mixed Use/Shared Space: $17million Commercial: $3.5 million Total: $32.5 million Jobs Created: 125 temporary (construction) 65 permanent Total Cost: $37.75M Denver Public Library

Evans Station Lofts First TOD completed project ULC s first completed full cycle TOD joint development, where we purchased the land for $1M =($23 sq. ft.) and held it until our development partner received their LIHTC 50 work forces apartments built with $9.5 M in tax credit equity 8,000 sq.ft. of commercial space Unable to use the Ground Lease as we had to pay back the TOD Fund

Project Vitals Developer: Medici Communities, Inc. Unit Count: 20 one-bedroom, 30 two-bedroom Unit Mix: 7 at 30% AMI, 12 at 40%, 16 at 50%, and 15 at 60% Development Partner: Urban Land Conservancy TDC: $12.35 million Financing Sources: 9% LIHTC (Richman Fund Manager) and permanent loan (Richman Mortgage Assets Company) Construction Loan: Wells Fargo Architect: Parikh Stevens Architect General Contractor: MCM/BC, LLC, a joint venture partnership between Medici Construction Management, Inc. and B.C. Builders, LLC.

Land Stewardship at Blake Station Future Opportunity with Medici! ULC purchased the land for $1.8M in 2011, will hold until our development partner receives their LIHTC At least 120 apartments with a minimum of 70 permanently affordable 10,000 sq.ft. of commercial space/future home for ULC 99 Year Ground Lease in place

Future of Blake Station

Lessons Learned about Land Stewardship 1. Be able to identify key partners early in your development process. Make sure they support your mission and use of ground lease 2. Be strategic about where you pick your TOD sites. For instance, being able to say NO to free land that is completely disconnected from transit and the neighborhoods you are serving is OK 3. Being able to say YES to challenging TOD sites, even brown fields, that are within your core community focus area is a good thing, as long as you can fulfill #1 above. 4. Mitigate your land stewardship risk by having a strong partners that complement your work 5. FACTS ON GROUND: Land Stewardship at TOD is not for everyone, but it should be Prove out your work by showing its benefits.

Thank you! Aaron Miripol 303-377-4477 aaron@urbanlandc.org www.urbanlandc.org