Jeff Burum’s National Core was a whisker away from being brought in to take over from Related California the assignment of establishing “low cost” senior citizen apartments in Chino Hills.
Despite the Chino Hills City Council placing faith in Related California ten months ago as the developer of a senior citizen – in which the residents were to be age 55 or older – apartment project, a majority of the council has concluded that the staff with the company either does not share the vision of the company’s owner or is wrongheadedly seeking too many compromises from the city. It accordingly rethought the commitment and has now given the highly favorable contract for the project to one of three other companies that competed to be used for project construction.
What was touted as a 50-unit senior citizen apartments project fully devoted to being “affordable” to those living there was proposed for construction on the 2.43 acres at the southwest corner of Peyton Drive and Eucalyptus Avenue by the City of Chino Hills. City officials invited home/apartment builders to submit competing bids/proposals, based upon the understanding that they would need to deliver a final product that would have with 50 percent of the units – 25 – occupied by those whose monetary availability qualified them as “low income” citizens, and the other and 50 percent of the units – 25 – for “very-low income” residents.
Chino Hills city fathers resolved during the general plan hearing process two years ago, to have the site converted to high density housing, along with several other properties, in order to comply with demands from the State of California and its Department of Housing and Community Development that it meet California’s affordable housing mandates, as laid out in the regional housing needs assessment. In the currently applicable housing needs assessment for Chino Hills, the city is under the gun to allow, during an eight year period running from 2021 to 2029, the development of 3,729 total units, which are to include 694 units for extremely low income individuals making 30 percent of the annual median income for the region; 694 units for very low income individuals making 50 percent of the annual median income for the region; 821 units for low income individuals making 50-to-80 percent of the annual median income for the region; 789 units for moderate income individuals making 80-to-120 percent of the annual median income for the region; and 731 units for above moderate income individuals making more than 10 percent of the annual median income for the region.
According to Ligouri, the 2.34 acres at 3295 Eucalyptus is ideal for an affordable senior housing project given the room it presents to accommodate 50 apartment units with up to 120 parking stalls, nearby medical facilities and amenities such as the Community Park, Community Center and library, which would engage the senior citizens who are to live there.
The city went full speed ahead with the project, obtaining grants in the amount of $452,841 to undertake work preparatory for the development, including geological studies to determine the land’s ability to host a multi-story apartment building and to begin environmental studies for the project. That grant augmented another state grant, from the California Department of Housing and Community Development, of $177,285, which was used to set up the bidding process for project proponents and assessments of the project’s workability.
Ten companies submitted proposals to the city. City officials rated those submittals, taking into consideration the financial viability and track records of the companies, the quality of their project proposals, and the innovation of the projects considered and their livability. Six of the companies were rejected and four of the companies – Adobe Communities, C&C Development, National Communities Renaissance, and Related California – were given permission to refine their proposals and compete against one another. Penultimately, Adobe Communities withdrew its proposal.
Many believed National Communities Renaissance, also known as National CORE, to be the front runner in the competition. National Communities Renaissance was founded by Jeff Burum as a nonprofit devoted to constructing affordable housing. Burum in recent years has proven to be one of the most generous of political donors in San Bernardino County. Upon setting his mind to ingratiating himself with local government officials and influencing them into positively perceiving his development proposals, he only rarely fails.
Led by National CORE’s President, Michael M. Ruane, as well as Executive Vice President and General Counsel Robert Diaz, Senior vice President of Operations Doretta Bryan, Chief Financial Officer Michael Finn, Senior Vice President of Project Development Lesley Hampton, Senior Vice President of Construction Chris Killian, Senior Vice President of Property Management Courtney Richard, Chief Development Officer Alexa Washburn is Chief Development Officer, Vice President of Acquisitions Tony Mize and Alyssa Cotter, the vice president of National CORE’s parallel entity, the Hope through Housing Foundation, National Community Renaissance engages in the planning and development, land acquisition, financing for, construction and management of affordable housing communities.
National CORE projects include Valley Senior village in Escondido, Veterans Park in Pomona, Oakcrest Terrace and Arbor Villas in Yorba Linda, 456 West in San Pedro, Alta Vista in Los Angeles, Cape Cod Senior Villas in Oceanside, Cathedral Palms and River Canyon in Cathedral City, Citrus Grove in Rialto, Clark Manor in Downey, Vista Terraza, Vista del Puente and Nestor Senior Village in San Diego, the Village in Fontana, the Oaks in Bell, Sycamore Springs in Alta Loma, Shadow Hill in Santee, San Marino in Montclair, the Promenade in West Covina and Monterey Village in Rancho Cucamonga.
C & C Development, led by principals Barry & Todd Cottle, Director of Finance Jahi Akoundo, Project Manager Scott Bering, Director of Operations Beth Taylor, Vice President of Construction Ramon Acuña, Construction Project Manager Scott Cottle, Property Operations Manager Rosie Ruiz and Compliance Manager Yvette Sanders, engages in the development of and acquisition of existing affordable housing, with an emphasis on adaptive reuse and sustainable building practices.
C & C’s ground-up projects include the Pacific Wind in Carlsbad, Valencia Garden and the Serrano Woods Apartments in Orange, the Groves Senior Apartments in San Juan Capistrano, the Audrey Lane Senior Apartments in Yorba Linda, the ElDorado Apartments in San Marcos, Mission Trail in the city of Lake Elsinore, the Meridian Apartments in Corona, the Villa Pacifica Apartments in Rancho Cucamonga, the Andulacia Apartments in Santa Ana and the Buena Vista Apartments in Orange County. C & C has also, according to a corporate statement, demonstrated an ability “to approach dilapidated, gang, drug and crime-infested properties,” then engage in “acquisition and rehabilitation” to create “affordable housing communities.”
Last year, Related California and its top officials – Chairman and CEO William Witte, President Gino Canori and Chief Operating Officer Nicholas Vanderboom – were able to convince both the members of the Chino Hills City Council and Chino Hills Community Development Director Nick Liguori, whom Chino Hills had pouched from Chino in May 2023, that the Related California offered the best program for converting the property into a top-flight home for older people. Liguori, the director of development services for the City of Chino for 19 years, had been impressed by Related California’s accomplishments in the affordable senior housing arena, most notably Laurel at Perennial Park in Santa Rosa, Vista Crest and Parkside Place in Los Angeles, Lilian Court and Bloomington Grove in San Bernardino, Prado in Fountain Valley and Emporia Place in Ontario.
City council members found the cottage units Related proposed to be quaint, the amenities it proposed for the overall complex to be complimentary to senior citizens’ needs and willingness to make an easy access walkway to the adjoining Community Park and Community Center a bonus.
Related California was given the right to negotiate and work out an exclusive deal for the project.
As it would turn out, however, over the next eight to nine months, as Liguori sought to work with Vanderboom, Executive Vice President for Design Phoebe Yee, Executive Vice President for Development Steven Oh, Senior Vice President for Development Jonathan Shum, Senior vice President for Development Larry Wilkes, Vice President for Design Nick Witte, Vice President for Development Greg Mortiz, Vice President for Construction Mark Temple and Vice President for Construction Brad Titter and Vice President for Construction and Project Manager Jeremy Yan, he found it challenging to have a meaningful and productive meeting of the minds. While it is not fair to say that Related California was dragging its feet, no progress on the project, which was to take place on property used as an overflow parking lot for Community Park and occasional community fairs and impromptu sales that lies immediately north of Caballero Ranch, was being made.
As a consequence, Chino Hills over the last two months has made the decision to go to Plan B.
At its December 10 meeting, the city council took up a discussion of pulling the plug on Related California and replacing it with one of the other two competing developers, either C & C or National CORE.
A divided council entered a 4-to-1 vote, with Councilman Ray Marquez dissenting, to rescind the exclusive negotiating and construction arrangement with Related California. The decision, ultimately, was to replace Related California it with C&C Development.
Negotiations with Related California had previously reached a dead end, city officials maintain.
While Bill Witte, who is the chairman and chief executive officer with Related California, was quite cooperative and ready to deal with the City of Chino Hills, at the age of 73, he has not been able to control, as he once did, those in critical positions below him employed with Related California, and the city could not get lined up with Related California with regard to what the project was to consist of.
There was a recent breakthrough in the negotiations between the city and Related, consisting of Related agreeing to replace some of its intransigent negotiating team members who had opposed coming to an agreement with the city previously, but the more than eight months of dead time since the February approval so discouraged the council that they were backing away from Related more rapidly than the negotiators could close the gap. In the meantime, Liguori contacted C&C Development and National CORE, and had revisited with each whether they were ready to come and supplant Related. It was a close decition, but Liguori sided with C&C, the Sentinel was told.
Mayor Art Bennett called upon his colleagues to “change horses” now, before further bickering with Related compromises the momentum toward the project’s completion.
Councilman Marquez wanted city staff to redouble its efforts to come to an accommodation with Related.
Councilman Peter Rogers and Councilwoman Cynthia Moran were inclined toward Bennett’s view of the matter and they moved and seconded switching to C&C. Councilman Brian Johsz went along with the majority.
At stake in the exclusive negotiations that will now take place between city officials – most likely City Manager Ben Abernathy and Liguori – and C&C is the sale of the property. The city will not back off the concept of making all of the units low cost, meaning 50 percent at low income rental rates and 50 percent at very-low income rates.
The city council has already declared the property as surplus, meaning it is eligible for liquidation in a sale to a user who will meet the city’s requirements, which in this case means assisting the city in meeting its affordable housing mandate. The city has ready-made a declaration that the project will be exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act.