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Amanda Rose October 26, 2006 Page 2 ^ The City was a key partner in the development of the new Tri-Valley Housing Opportunity Center which opened September 2005 in Livermore and recently celebrated its one-year anniversary of operation. To date, thirty Center "~aduates" have gone on to purchase homes (the first home buyer was a Pleasanton resident who purchased a condominium in Dublin). The DPA program continues to he a key financial tool available to Center clients, and we have received increased inquiries since the Center started its operation (including the issuance of five pre-approval commitments). ^ City staff has been aggressively marketing the DPA program for the past year. Most recently, on September 27, we made a presentation at the Bay East Association of Realtors (BEAR) Housing Assistance Forum, which was attended by approximately 40 local realtors and lenders. This generated a significant amount of new interest in the DPA program and several pre-approvals. At the seminar, local realtor Pam Dakan and local lender Randi DeHollander presented a "virtual transaction" based on Pleasanton's most recent DPA client and greatest success story - a woman who was able to purchase and retain the condominium in which she had resided for t3 years. ^ During the past year, the City experienced a surge in requests for condominium conversion. This trend has generated new opportunities for the City to work with owner/developers to provide affordable ownership housing units. Two condominitnn projects (one conversion and one new construction) were recently approved by the City Council and include a total of 42 below-market priced units that are likely to be constructed in the near future (15 to tow income buyers and 27 to moderate income buyers). The majority (35) of these are in a conversion project, Stoneridge Apartments, that could potentially begin selling within the next several months. The DPA program provides an ideal incentive to tenants who would like to purchase their units, and the owner has expressed a willingness to work with the City to use the DPA program as a tool to assist existing tenants to purchase their units. On its own, this project could potentially utilize up to $600.000 in HELP funds (i.e., more than the City's remaining allocation of $355,000). ^ As referenced earlier, we currently have five (5) "pre-approvals" totaling a potential $130 000 in HELP funds. These loans are ready to be issued as soon as the prospective buyers find suitable properties and enter into contracts. Based on the first extension granted last year, the present funding commitment is scheduled to expire on November 7, 2006. We acknowledge CaIHPA's need to put the HELP funds to work for the greatest benefit; however, we understand that other communities throughout the state that have implemented down payment assistance programs are experiencing similar challenges. We appreciated the flexibility of CaIHFA's HELP program and hope that it will extend to granting us one more extension in order to be able to serve the specific needs outlined above. We would like to respectfull request another twelve (12) month extension (i.e., to November 7, 2007); however, if this is not feasible, we would appreciate at least six months (i.e., to May 7, 2007) in order to continue to offer the DPA program and utilize the remaining $355,000. Matching City funds remain committed to the DPA program.