April’s Grove construction begins in May; donations still needed

— from Crystal Mossman for OPAL —

Thanks to the voters of San Juan County who adopted a new Real Estate Excise Tax last November, a legacy contribution from Bob Henigson, and to creative problem solving by many, including staff members of the Washington State Housing Finance Commission, OPAL Community Land Trust will begin construction of the 45-rental townhome project called April’s Grove in May.

The project – the first new affordable rental housing of significant size in San Juan County in nearly 30 years – was stalled last fall when construction costs jumped by more than 30 percent over estimated costs from one year ago.

The OPAL project team, led by Project Manager Jeanne Beck, worked with the general contractor, Dawson Construction, and the architect, Environmental Works, to find cost savings. As part of the process, OPAL put the project out for a second round of bidding. Dawson was still the lowest bidder, and costs decreased somewhat, but were still 20 percent higher than the sources of funds. The April’s Grove project is not alone. Contractors report that construction costs throughout the Pacific Northwest are high.

Facing the reality of higher costs, the OPAL team looked for new sources of funding. “The new Real Estate Excise Tax (REET) passed by San Juan County voters was a likely source of funding,” explained OPAL Executive Director Lisa Byers, “but the timing didn’t work. Bankers for the April’s Grove project needed a firm commitment for the money by May 2019 in order to preserve existing funding awards, but the County’s competitive process wouldn’t make its first round of awards until December 2019.”

OPAL’s team developed a plan to seek conditional pledges. Then the Washington State Housing Finance Commission offered to provide a short-term loan instead. OPAL plans to repay the loan with additional donations from individuals and from funds that will hopefully be awarded by San Juan County over the next two years. Construction on the site will begin in early May and is scheduled to take 16 months.

“We recognize that many people on the island are in desperate need of an affordable home,” said Byers. “We won’t start the formal application process for April’s Grove until the spring of 2020, but if you want to be notified about progress and timelines, please call the OPAL office or send an inquiry through the ‘Rent a Home’ section of our website. In the spring of next year we will provide notice about the application process in the newspapers, by postings on bulletin boards, social media and other online sources, and through our email contact list.”

Incorporated in 1989, OPAL serves 106 ownership and 30 rental Orcas Island households. For more information, go to www.opalclt.org or call (360) 376-3191.