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REPORT <br />To the Honorable Mayor and City Council <br />From the City Manager <br /> <br />March 26, 2018 <br /> <br />SUBJECT <br />Request for Proposals for the Development of Affordable Housing at 611 Heller Street <br /> <br />RECOMMENDATION <br />By motion, authorize the issuance of a Request for Proposals for the Development of <br />Affordable Housing at 611 Heller Street <br /> <br />BACKGROUND <br />At a series of meetings related to housing since 2015, the Council has directed staff to <br />develop several policy measures related to the production of housing, with a particular <br />focus on below market rate (affordable) housing. In these meetings, and in <br />conversations with affordable housing developers, it has become clear that the primary <br />barrier to the production of affordable housing is the lack of available land. <br />Therefore, a key approach to address the affordable housing crisis is using city-owned <br />property for the development of affordable housing. One such opportunity existed on the <br />City-owned parcels within the Downtown Precise Plan area known at the “Bradford <br />Site”. A 117-unit senior affordable housing development with ground-floor childcare was <br />approved by the Planning Commission on December 5, 2017. <br />An opportunity for a smaller affordable housing development now exists at the City- <br />owned site located at 611 Heller Street. The site is currently vacant and is the subject of <br />this report. <br />The former Redwood City Redevelopment Agency (RDA) acquired the site at 611 Heller <br />Street (Site) in December 2007 with Low-Moderate Housing Set Aside (LMH) funds for <br />approximately $711,000. The former RDA acquired the site after the property owner <br />defaulted on their loan and the bank foreclosed on the property. The Redwood City <br />Police Department and Community Development Department (Code Enforcement <br />Division) also found the existing property to be a long term, chronic nuisance hazard <br />which endangered the safety of the public. The existing single-family dwelling on the <br />site had undergone extensive remodeling without permits, was in substandard condition <br />and structurally unsafe. After acquiring the property, the City demolished the building in <br />March 2008, placed fencing around the site and initiated environmental reviews. The <br />6.1.A. - Page 1