September 17, 2007 – Petaluma, Calif.; Delco Builders & Developers announced today the opening of Frates Square, the workforce housing component at Southgate in Petaluma. The special housing program is a collaborative effort between Delco Builders, the City of Petaluma and Housing Land Trust of Sonoma County (HLTSC).
An event celebrating the opening of Petaluma’s workforce housing community was held at the site in which Petaluma Mayor Pamela Torliatt, Police Captain David Sears, Director of Petaluma Health Care District Daymon Doss, Delco Builders representatives, community VIPs and many of the Frates Square home buyers were in attendance.
The structure of the partnership to create and build Frates Square is the first of its kind in Sonoma County. It is the second community in Sonoma County created by HLTSC. Frates Square comprises 26 new homes which are being sold to members of the “local workforce” such as school teachers, police officers, city government employees and local healthcare workers. To date, 23 of the 26 homes have been pre-sold to first-time home owners at prices that allow these buyers incomes to qualify for traditional 30-year fixed mortgage financing.
Over 100 applications to buy Frates Square homes were taken during the spring and summer months, after HLTSC hosted several community outreach meetings to introduce this home ownership opportunity. Candidate buyers were then screened by the city and the project lender.
Rick Rosenbaum, vice president of sales and operations at Delco Builders, said that “Delco is pleased to have collaborated on such an important public/private endeavor and expanding the base of home ownership opportunities in Petaluma helps to build stronger communities.”
Grading and house construction work for the 26 homes began in mid-July. The first households to occupy the homes should be able to move in by Thanksgiving and Frates Square should be completed and fully occupied by Spring 2008.
“We’re delighted to have had such a terrific response from a diverse group of Sonoma County’s workforce residents. The model we developed with Delco Builders and the City of Petaluma is one we hope to replicate elsewhere in the county to fulfill our mission of creating homeownership opportunities for people who provide core services for everyone that lives in the county,” said Housing Land Trust of Sonoma County Executive Director Dev Goetschius.
The City of Petaluma is working with the Housing Land Trust of Sonoma County (HLTSC) as part of its plan to assure permanent affordability. HLT has a successful track record in being involved with workforce housing projects in Sonoma County and has mortgage partners committed to this program.
Delco retained KTGY Architects to design two house plans for Frates Square that are consistent in appearance and quality to the market-rate homes in the Southgate community. Each home features 3 or 4 bedrooms, 2 ˝ to 3 baths, a 2-car garage, front yard landscaping and private fenced backyard area. The homes range in size from 1,479 square feet and 1,608 square feet. Interior finishes are impressive and will include generous hardwood oak cabinetry, tile countertops, window coverings and a complete GE® appliance package. The exteriors of the homes will be finished with a variety of materials including stucco, horizontal lap and vertical board and batten siding painted in an appealing palette of exterior colors to create an attractive street scene that will complement the Muirwood and Turnberry Collections of homes at Southgate.
The reasons why these homes can be sold at below market rates are varied: (1) a City of Petaluma policy requires developers of new projects like Delco Builders to provide workforce housing programs at a substantially reduced cost; (2) the Housing Land Trust acquires land from the City or developers like Delco Builders for workforce housing programs at a substantially reduced cost; (3) buyers of workforce homes enter into a long-term ground lease with HLTSC for the lot that the house is built on, thus saving the home buyers the land cost of a new home; (4) there are resale restrictions associated with the sale of these homes in order to maintain an inventory of workforce housing stock in the city for subsequent buyers. For more information, visit www.housinglandtrust.org.
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