ST. HELENA — The St. Helena City Council agreed Tuesday to contribute another $140,000 to the Turley Flats affordable housing project on Pope Street, which is facing a funding gap of over $1 million.
The money will come out of the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which had already pledged $500,000 to the project — $341,500 in the form of a loan and $158,500 in fee waivers.
The new contribution will help close the funding gap faced by Calistoga Affordable Housing, which is trying to build eight affordable units at 1105 Pope St.
It will also help the nonprofit developer access a $650,000 matching grant from Napa County. The city’s additional contribution is contingent upon Calistoga Affordable Housing receiving that grant.
In hopes of closing the rest of the gap, the nonprofit has asked several residents for additional funds, Calistoga Affordable Housing President Larry Kromann wrote in a letter to the city.
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“CAH’s interpretation of their comments is that they believe they started the Turley project with their money and it is now time for the other community entities to provide their matching funds,” Kromann wrote. “They also expressed their frustration with the current time-consuming construction approval process. To date no funds have been offered.”
CAH was able to reduce its construction costs by $300,000 by meeting with bidders and going over their numbers, Kromann said. CAH has also met with engineers and architects to talk about ways to reduce costs, he said.
The council directed City Manager Jennifer Phillips to report back in 60 days on the project’s progress.
The city red-tagged some illegal units on the Pope Street property in 2011, citing building code violations and unsafe living conditions. When he heard that seven families had been evicted from the units, vintner Larry Turley bought the property and donated it to CAH.
St. Helena’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund has a balance of $1.3 million, but only $500,000 is still unallocated. The city has earmarked $640,000 for Turley Flats and $165,000 for Our Town St. Helena’s Brenkle Court project on McCorkle Avenue.