Residents Oppose Sycamore North's Affordable Housing Possibility

Dozens of residents showed up at Thursday's Town Hall meeting, most to voice their opposition to the unfinished building and its planned affordable housing element.

The city has an offer to buy the building from affordable housing developer Bridge Housing. If the city accepts the offer, all 96 of Sycamore North's residential units would become low- and very low-income units. As it stands, 73 units are set to be affordable.

Hercules has acted as the developer on Sycamore North, which is designed to have 40,000 square feet of retail space under three stories of residential units. The city owns the land the project sits on and the redevelopment agency owns the actual building. So far, Hercules has spent $35 million on the project, with nearly $29 million coming from state loans and bond money that will need to be paid back. It will take an estimated $30 million to complete the project, Municipal Services Director John Stier said at the meeting.

City staff presented four potential options for Sycamore North. Those choices included selling to Bridge Housing, tearing down the residential units, ignoring the affordable housing requirement and selling to a private buyer, or turning the building into a hotel or assisted living facility.

Interim City Manager Liz Warmerdam said the city has not made a decision on what option it will take with Sycamore North. She said the town hall meeting was intended to vet all possible plans for the project and said another town hall meeting could be called to continue discussions with the public. No date or time for the meeting was mentioned.

Read below for coverage of the meeting, and check back with Hercules Patch soon for more details on the project.

MEETING

Public Comment/Questions (this is a sampling of comments from the public, but it does not include all comments. If yours was left out, please leave it in Patch's comment section below):

Resident Charlie Davis, Building was not supposed to exceed the height in any building in the neighborhood. The floors have to go down.

Mary Tobin Kelly, Really consider the parking. 1.2 spaces per 1,000 feet. If there’s no parking for shops, tear housing down.

Heidi Murphy, owner of Salon 2138, Wants all of Sycamore Avenue re-opened. “I’ve lived here for 18 years, seen how the city has progressed…I’m grateful to have a business in Hercules…I still think it’s up and coming.”

Resident Bill Kelly, “The big problem I’ve got is the mix.” Has worked 18 years as cop in SF. “My experience, when we take a large concentration…low-income…trouble is to be predicted… I’ve got no problem with affordable housing…Housing should be mixed in with non-affordable housing. Not only are we doing a disservice to people who live in Hercules, we would do a disservice to people who would be living there…”

Woman who lives in Bayside (did not catch name), Property value dropped by 50 percent. “When we talk about a lot of money…we’ve already lost the money." Used to live in Berkeley near affordable housing complex where she said there were fire bombings, sexual predators, murderers. “The concept of section 8 is to have it spread out and integrated—it’s just wrong.”

Resident Toni Leance, Has section 8 residence next to her house on Sanderling Drive. The other day, someone was arrested from the house, and police had guns drawn. Bullets could have gone through her window, she said.

Acting Hercules Police Captain Tim Stratmeyer on his experience with existing affordable housing projects in Hercules, Victoria Green. “There haven’t been the calls I thought I would get there…One shotgun blast to the front door…My concern, initially, was that it was going to be a high crime area…Definitely hasn’t lived up to my expectations for high crime.”

Bridge Housing Presentation:

Company established in 1983

Operates affordable housing proterties around the Bay Area

To apply to live in Bridge Housing:

• Perform credit, evictions, criminal background check

• Interview applicant

• Third-party verification of all income and assets

• Landlord reference check

• Home visit at applicants current place of residence

• Offer of an apartment, subject to lease and house rules

• Rents from $645 to $1,365 per month

• Income limits would range from $40,500 to $55,400 for family of four

“We’re going to select the highest quality tenants that we can find. That’s what landlords do,” said Bridge Housing Vice President Brad Wiblin.

Pros and Cons with Options: 

1) Sell to non-profit company with existing restrictions

Pros:

No apparent legal risks

Fulfills affordable housing obligations

CalHFA loan is satisfied

Buyer to complete constructions

Sharing cash flow revenues at about 80K/year

Picking up 20 percent of 2.3 million of invoices

Cons:

High affordable housing

Impact on neighborhood

Potential impact on retail

Parking limitations

Timing to close deal

Exempt from property taxes

2) Tear Down

Pros

No more affordable units

More marketable retail

Excellent parking ratio

Increases retail value

Physical impact on neighborhood

Expedites completion of project

Cons:

Legal liability

Cost to demolish $500K

Still owe CalHFA loan $5.3 million

Cost to redesign (Naturally, it’s going to need some work).

Perception of lost dollars that have been sunk into project

Potential issue with bondholders

3) Sale to private developer with 15 percent affordable

Pros:

Reduces affordable housing

Improves retail opportunities

Impact on neighborhood

Finish construction

Fulfill market rental

Property tax

Cons:

Out of compliance on how funds must be spent

Legal liability

Still owe CalHFA loan $5.3 million

Potential issue with bond holders

4) Assisted Living and/or Hotel

Not much info

Options and cost to city:

1) Sell Sycamore North to nonprofit. Economic impact: $2.9 million

2) Tear it down. Economic impact: $4.5 million

3) Sell to private buyer. Economic impact: $8 million

4) Turn into assisted living or hotel: Over $8 million

The city has spent $35 million so far on the project. It will take $30 million more to complete. The project has a high affordable housing requirement, which has upset many residents.

7:12 p.m., Ground Rules include being respectful, discussing the future not the past, vet options and receive community input, limit comments, all options are on the table and will be considered.

The Sycamore North portion of the meeting will start at 7 p.m. instead of 7:30 p.m., due to popular demand by meeting-goers.