Enterprise's Partners Take Top Honors in 2006 Reader's Choice Awards
Awards program recognizes nation's best affordable housing developments
Columbia, Md. (November 15, 2006) – The 2006 Reader’s Choice Awards, sponsored by Affordable Housing Finance magazine, honored Clare Court Apartments as the Best Historic Rehabilitation/Preservation Project and The Plaza Apartments as the Best Special Needs/Single Room Occupancy Project this year. Both developments included low-income housing tax credit equity financed through Enterprise Community Investment, Inc. (Enterprise). Enterprise is a national organization that works to fuel community revitalization through its financing development and technical resources.
Originally St. Elizabeth’s Convent in Baltimore, Clare Court Apartments is now a 30-unit affordable housing development serving families adopting children from the local foster care system, seniors and persons with disabilities. Clare Court was developed by Homes for America with the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi, who owned the convent and wanted to see it used to serve others.
Plaza Apartments is 106 studio units serving some of San Francisco’s neediest citizens. Many of the residents were formerly homeless and also suffer from medical, mental and/or substance abuse problems that make supportive services a necessity to achieve a healthier life. Developed by Public Initiatives Development Corporation, a subsidiary of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, Plaza Apartments uses green design and building techniques, including a solar energy system that is expected to save about $8,500 in utility costs per year.
"We are very pleased to see our partners honored with Reader’s Choice Awards," said Jeff Donahue, president and CEO of Enterprise Community Investment, Inc. "Clare Court represents ground-breaking innovation in the preservation and rehabilitation of an historic building to create affordable homes," he said. "Building healthy, sustainable homes is a priority and the reason we launched the Green Communities initiative in 2004. As one of the first Green Communities developments, Plaza Apartments represents cutting-edge design that is now a model for additional green affordable housing," said Donahue.
Rainbow Apartments in Los Angeles received a Reader’s Choice Special Mention as a new permanent supportive housing project designed to serve the chronically homeless in Los Angeles. Financing for this $17 million dollar project included low-income housing tax credit equity through Enterprise and funding from the Los Angeles County Housing Department and the Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles. Residents will receive services through the Mental Health Services Act, a state initiative that funds services for Californians with severe and persistent mental illness.
Reader’s Choice Award winners were announced at a luncheon, November 3, 2006, sponsored by Enterprise, during AHF Live: the 2006 Tax Credit Developers’ Summit in Chicago. Charlie Werhane, vice chairman and COO of Enterprise Community Investment, assisted in presenting the awards during the event.
"We are consistently impressed with the creativity and dedication of partners like Homes for America and Public Initiatives Development Corporation and delighted to see their hard work recognized. By sharing ideas, strengthening partnerships and forming new relationships, Enterprise helps its many partners put solutions to work in their communities," Werhane said.
For more information about the 2006 Reader’s Choice Awards, please visit http://www.housingfinance.com/ahf/rcawards.htm.
Enterprise Community Investment, Inc. (Enterprise) is a leading provider of the development capital and expertise it takes to create decent, affordable homes and rebuild communities. Enterprise leverages low-income housing, new markets and historic rehabilitation tax credits, short- and long-term debt, and development services to capitalize projects that make a catalytic difference in communities. For over two decades, Enterprise has privately raised $7 billion in capital to finance affordable housing, create vital communities and help transform the lives of low-income Americans, particularly those at the lowest end of the economic scale. Currently, Enterprise is investing in communities at a rate of $1 billion a year. Visit www.enterprisecommunity.com to learn more about Enterprise's efforts to build communities and opportunity.
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