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37 <br /> 1 <br /> 2 Agenda Item 3 — Roundtable Discussion with Affordable Housing Partners, Chambers of <br /> 3 Commerce, and Homebuilders Association <br /> 4 <br /> 5 The following organizations attended the Retreat and participated in the discussion: Kimberly <br /> 6 Sanchez for Community Home Trust (CHT); Valencia Thompson and Delores Bailey for <br /> 7 EMPOWERment; Ansel Pritchard for Habitat for Humanity; Ian Scott for the Homebuilders <br /> 8 Association of Durham, Orange, and Chatham Counties and the Chamber for a Greater Chapel <br /> 9 Hill-Carrboro; Blake Rosser for the Orange County Housing Department; and Lynn Nilsson for the <br /> 10 Orange County Affordable Housing Advisory Board. <br /> 11 <br /> 12 • What do developers suggest for building more housing? <br /> 13 • Types of housing? <br /> 14 • Chamber for a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro "big bold ideas" summary: <br /> 15 http://www.bigboIdideas.org/ <br /> 16 • What may be different for non-profit developers? <br /> 17 • How can Orange County work collaboratively to better serve the need for attainable <br /> 18 housing? <br /> 19 <br /> 20 Chair Hamilton opened by asking participants to describe barriers to affordable and <br /> 21 workforce housing from their perspectives. <br /> 22 Ansel Pritchard explained that Habitat for Humanity is shifting toward larger communities <br /> 23 of scale and higher density for practical reasons to build more homes annually. He said their <br /> 24 biggest barriers are cost and utility access-finding developable land with water and sewer access <br /> 25 while competing with other developers. He said for the homeowners they serve, which are <br /> 26 traditionally 30-80 percent AMI, reaching below 40 percent AMI has become increasingly difficult <br /> 27 due to building costs and property taxes. <br /> 28 Kimberly Sanchez noted that Community Home Trust (CHT) gets most housing inventory <br /> 29 through Chapel Hill's inclusionary zoning requirement, which will bring them over 300 homes this <br /> 30 year. She said while other jurisdictions show developer appetite for negotiating affordable <br /> 31 housing inclusion, barriers include lack of strong policy or political will. She emphasized that <br /> 32 public investment is critical since market supply alone won't provide necessary subsidies for <br /> 33 homeowners earning 65 percent AMI like teachers and nurses. She said moderate income <br /> 34 homeowners face barriers including conventional mortgage requirements and high closing costs <br /> 35 despite down payment assistance. <br /> 36 Valencia Thompson explained EMPOWERment focuses on affordable rentals, with <br /> 37 inventory being their biggest barrier. She said they receive daily calls from people seeking rentals, <br /> 38 but inventory is insufficient. She said finding funding for acquisitions and rehabilitation to keep <br /> 39 units affordable is challenging, especially given increasing rents. She said renters also lack <br /> 40 assistance for security deposits and other rental requirements, and housing vouchers remain <br /> 41 unavailable. <br /> 42 Lynn Nilsson from the Affordable Housing Advisory Board identified increasing property <br /> 43 taxes and tax burden shifting to local residents as major concerns, particularly with state-level <br />