Housing connection.

              Volume 15, Number 4 Fall 2011
®
OHFA maintains presence on two national
housing boards
2010 OHFA Annual Report with Route 66
theme honored with national NCSHA award
Housing Trust Fund loan to benefi t Cherokee
County
Housing Connection
Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency
P.O. Box 26720
Oklahoma City, OK 73126
Presorted Standard
U.S. Postage
Paid
Permit No. 2000
Okla City, OK
LOOK INSIDE!
Members of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians
and Tahlequah city offi cials and prepare to break ground on
the future site of the tribe’s new Elder Living Center.
Construction begins on Elder
Living Center in Tahlequah
To kick off its 61st Annual
Keetoowah Cherokee
Celebration, members of
the United Keetoowah Band of
Cherokee Indians
broke ground on its
new Elder Living
Center September
30 on land just south
of the Tahlequah city
limits.
The 30-unit com-plex
made up of one
and two bedroom homes will be
located on the Keetoowah Chero-kee
Tribal Complex right beside
the Elder Nutrition Center and the
Wellness Center.
The Elder Living Center is a
joint project among Oklahoma
Housing Finance Agency, the
U.S. Department of Agriculture
- Rural Development, City of
Tahlequah and Tahlequah Public
Works.
OHFA provided
$500,000 in Home In-vestment
Partnerships
Program (HOME)
funds to build 11 of
the units.
“The tribe is grate-ful
for the partnering
agencies that have come togeth-er
with us to provide our elders
with homes that are safe and
affordable,” said Tim Goodvoice,
director of planning and develop-ment
for the United Keetoowah
Band of Cherokee Indians.
2011 Diamond Awards winners total 1,015 home closings
Oklahoma Housing Finance
Agency’s Top 10 highest-performing
lenders in its
OHFA Advantage Mortgage Rev-enue
Bond program in 2011 were
honored with Diamond Awards
during the September OHFA
Board of Trustees meeting.
By partnering with participating
lenders throughout Oklahoma,
the OHFA Advantage program
provides 30-year fi xed rate low-interest
mortgage loans and 3.5
percent down payment assis-tance
to qualifi ed homebuyers in
all 77 counties.
The Diamond Award winners
as a whole totaled 1,015 home
closings and $99.6 million in
mortgage loans in the OHFA Ad-
American Southwest Mortgage
Bank of Oklahoma
Cornerstone Home Loans
First Mortgage Corporation
WR Starkey Mortgage
vantage program within the previ-ous
12 months. The availability of
continuous lending helped boost
the number of home closings in
the program compared to two
years ago.
“Despite unbelievably low
interest rates, many families
still cannot afford to purchase
a home without down payment
assistance,” said Lee Ann Smith,
OHFA Single Family Programs
director. “We thank our lenders
for telling homebuyers in their
communities about OHFA Advan-tage
so more Oklahomans can
become proud homeowners.”
A complete list of lenders and
their locations can be accessed
at www.ohfa.org.
Arvest Bank
BancFirst
Citywide Mortgage
First United Bank
Spirit Bank
2011 Diamond Award WinnerS
Housing Connection Page 2
Housing Connection, a quarterly newsletter of Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency, is designed to
inform legislators, city offi cials, individuals working in the housing industry and citizens about the
agency’s progress in meeting the state’s affordable housing needs. For permission to reprint material
in Housing Connection contact the Communications Director. An original copy of reprinted informa-tion
is appreciated. Past issues are available on OHFA’s website.
Executive Director
Dennis Shockley
Communications Director
Holley Mangham, APR
Asst. Communications Director
Diana Rogers Jaeger, APR
Board of Trustees
Richard Lillard, Chairman
Steve Ganzkow
Charles P. Rainbolt
Debbie Blackburn
Joe Shockley
Resident Board Member
Erma Williams
Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency
100 N.W. 63rd, Ste. 200 • Oklahoma City, OK 73116
(405) 848-1144 • (800) 256-1489 • TDD (405) 848-7471
www.ohfa.org • AA/EEO
Oklahoma Quality Award Winner
Trustees grant HOME funds
to five nonprofits in state
OHFA’s Board of Trustees
approved Home Invest-ment
Partnerships Pro-gram
(HOME) contracts to build
or rehabilitate affordable housing
in Oklahoma.
OHFA is a U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development
designated state Participating
Jurisdiction.
September Meeting
Northeast Oklahoma
Community Action Agency, Inc.
received $50,000 in operating
assistance to develop affordable
housing in Adair, Cherokee,
Craig, Delaware, and Ottawa
Counties.
Muskogee County
Community Action Foundation,
Inc. received $50,000 in
operating assistance to develop
affordable housing in Muskogee
County.
Ki Bois Community Action
Foundation, Inc. received
$180,000 to provide down
payment assistance to 18
families in Haskell, Latimer,
LeFlore, Pittsburg and Sequoyah
Counties. It also received an
administrative award of $9,000.
Native American Housing
Services received $430,829 to
construct three single-family
homes in the City of Harrah.
November Meeting
United Community Action
Program, Inc. received $50,000
in operating assistance to
develop affordable housing in
Osage, Pawnee, Kay, Noble,
Tulsa and Creek Counties.
HOME program can be found
at www.ohfa.org by clicking on
the Developers/Non Profi ts but-ton
or by calling Darcy Green at
(405) 419-8145.
OHFA maintains presence on two national housing boards
During the National Council
of State Housing Agen-cies’
annual meeting in
San Diego October 1-4, Okla-homa
Housing Finance Agency’s
Board of Trustees Chair Richard
Lillard and Executive Director
Dennis Shockley won re-election
to separate national housing
boards.
Lillard was re-elected to his
fourth two-year term to the Board
of Directors of the National Con-ference
of State Housing Boards.
NCSHB provides educational
and training opportunities for
state Housing Finance Agency
board members to help them
govern their agencies most ef-fectively.
Its members meet in
person three times a year and
convene bi-monthly via confer-ence
call.
“It is diffi cult to overstate the
importance of affordable hous-ing
today,” Lillard said. “Although
interest rates are low, securing
a home loan is harder than in
the past. The members of the
National Conference of State
Housing Boards look forward to
assisting those whose goal is
homeownership.”
Lillard is a Miami, Oklahoma
businessman with more than 35
years of manufacturing owner-ship
and operation experience.
“NCSHA is regarded as the foremost advocacy
group for affordable housing in the nation
and I am honored to help guide it.”
- Dennis Shockley, OHFA Executive Director
Vintage Housing builds more senior housing in Broken Arrow
Vintage Housing, a com-munity-
based nonprofi t
organization, recently built
its second independent living se-nior
housing property in Broken
Arrow called Kenosha Landing.
Fully leased up in just 88
days, Kenosha Landing rents 38
one-bedroom units for $395 to
$430 per month and rents two
two-bedroom units for $475 per
month to seniors age 55 and
older.
Vintage Housing partnered
with private developer Ron
Smith, contractor RESCO Enter-prises,
and Chase Fetters Hewitt
Architects to build the new hous-ing
development.
Similar to other Vintage Hous-ing
senior properties, Kenosha
Landing is designed with fea-tures
to keep its residents safe
and socially engaged.
The two-story building gives
residents access to an elevator,
laundry facilities on each fl oor,
and a large community room with
kitchen facilities. Additional com-
He has served as an OHFA trust-ee
since 2001. Lillard has also
been director and chairman of
the Oklahoma Industrial Finance
Authority and the Oklahoma
Development Finance Authority.
He owns Richard S. Lillard Com-pany,
a multi-integrated company
specializing in group benefi ts.
Shockley was re-elected to
his sixth two-year term to the
NCSHA Board of Directors. He is
the only Oklahoma executive di-rector
to have ever served on the
Board. His presence gives Okla-homa
a voice and voting power
when key housing decisions are
made. The Board meets at least
three times a year.
“NCSHA is regarded as the
foremost advocacy group for
affordable housing in the nation
and I am honored to help guide
it,” Shockley said.
NCSHA is a national, non-profi
t organization created by the
nation’s state HFAs more than
30 years ago to coordinate and
leverage their federal advocacy
efforts for affordable housing.
The organization assists
states in increasing housing
opportunities for lower income
and underserved people through
the fi nancing, development, and
preservation of affordable hous-ing.
Kenosha Landing
mon space includes the library,
activities room and game room,
along with a hospitality room.
The dedication celebration
for Kenosha Landing took place
October 28. U.S. Congressman
John Sullivan, Broken Arrow
Mayor Mike Lester and other
government and housing offi cials
spoke at the event.
Kenosha Landing utilized
$4 million in funds from the
Tax Credit Assistance Program
(TCAP) administered by the
Oklahoma Housing Finance
Agency.
Other fi nancial partners in-cluded
the Tulsa County HOME
Consortium, Federal Home Loan
Bank of Topeka and BancFirst.
In addition, the City of Broken
Arrow provided Community De-velopment
Block Grant funds for
the acquisition of the land.
Vintage Housing’s other inde-pendent
living senior property in
Broken Arrow is called Vandever
House.
Housing Connection Page 3
2010 OHFA Annual Report with Route 66 theme honored
with national NCSHA award
With its pages
splashed with vibrant
photographs and
captivating customer stories
that make Route 66 come
alive, the 2010 Oklahoma
Housing Finance Agency an-nual
report “The Road Home”
caught the attention of judg-es.
It garnered three major
awards in October.
During its annual meeting,
the National Council of State
Housing Agencies honored
OHFA with the Award for
Program Excellence for the
publication.
“It is quite the honor to be
presented this award among
all of our Housing Finance
Agency counterparts,” said
OHFA Communications Direc-tor
Holley Mangham. “Espe-cially
since they also share
compelling stories about the
impact of affordable housing
through their own quality publica-tions.”
In addition to NCSHA, the
Public Relations Society of
America - Oklahoma City Chap-ter
awarded OHFA’s annual
report with an UpperCase Award,
the highest award in a category.
At the end of the awards pro-gram,
the annual report also re-ceived
the coveted Best of Show
Award for having the highest
score among all public relations
tactics categories.
A limited number of the annual
reports can be obtained by call-ing
(405) 419-8222.
OHFA Executive Director
Dennis Shockley and
Communications Director
Holley Mangham accept
the Award for Program
Excellence at the NCSHA
conference in San Diego.
Arzon Development renovates
60 apartments in Blackwell
The newly renovated Jefferson Park Apartments in Blackwell held
its grand opening October 6. It features 60 apartments, a com-munity
room and a children’s playground.
The Arzon Development Company received three types of fi nanc-ing
from Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency to complete the project.
It received $2,602,955
in Section 1602 Ex-change
Program funds,
$1,865,188 in Tax Credit
Assistance Program
funds (TCAP), and
$1,000 in Affordable
Housing Tax Credits.
Housing Trust Fund loan to
benefit Cherokee County
Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency approved a Housing Trust
Fund loan not to exceed $500,000 during its November Board
of Trustees meeting for SAS Construction, LLC to build up to
20 single-family homes in Cherokee County. The term for the loan will
be 18 months at a one percent interest rate.
Administered by OHFA, the Housing Trust Fund provides low-interest
loans to fi nance new construction, conversion of buildings into
apartments or homes, rehabilitation projects or infrastructure improve-ments,
particularly in rural Oklahoma.
Information about the Housing Trust Fund and the application can
be found at www.ohfa.org. Eligible applicants include for-profi t devel-opers,
units of local government, tribal governments, nonprofi t organi-zations,
and political subdivisions.
HHoouussiinngg CCoonnnneeccttiioonn PPaaggee 44
Architectural features make The Fair Grounds homes unique
In the years before 1956 when
the state fairgrounds were still
located near Martin Luther
King Avenue and 7th Street in
Oklahoma City, people commonly
referred to the neighborhoods
nearby as “The Fairgrounds.”
The area thrived with many Af-rican-
Americans raising their fam-ily
in the community. Over time,
the trend of urban sprawl caused
families to move out of the area,
and the neighborhoods began a
long period of sad decay.
James Williams, who grew up
living in “The Fairgrounds,” and
other like-minded individuals de-cided
to take action to revitalize
the neighborhood they loved.
In 2001, they formed the non-profi
t organization Central Urban
Development, Inc. and developed
plans to both stimulate and build
housing in the location currently
known as the John F. Kennedy
Urban Renewal Project Area.
CUDI’s members reaped the
rewards of their hard work in
October when they completed
construction of 32 attractive and
affordable homes – 24 town-homes
and eight single-family
homes – right across the street
from Frederick A. Douglass Mid-
High School.
CUDI named the new hous-ing
addition, The Fair Grounds,
separating the words to mean
“grounds and housing that is fair
for all people,” James said.
Like the people who will inhabit
them, no two homes are ex-actly
alike. Each one has its own
unique architectural features and
personality.
James, CUDI’s vice president
of development and an architect,
personally designed the units and
layout himself. He intentionally
incorporated many features found
in more expensive homes, such
as recessed lighting, crown mold-ing,
wood blinds, brushed nickel
fi xtures, and brick exterior.
James said that it was impor-tant
for CUDI to build attractive,
quality homes in which its resi-dents
and the community could
take pride.
“We didn’t want to rob people
of their dignity,” he said.
To encourage social gather-ings,
all of the homes have a cov-ered
patio and an outdoor grill.
New sidewalks were installed in
the neighborhood where for years
there had been none.
“We wanted to make it a devel-opment
that is people oriented,”
James said.
All of the homes, although
intended for eventual homeown-ership,
will start out lease-to-own.
To help decrease costs for the
renters, each home comes fur-nished
with all major appliances,
including a washer and dryer.
CUDI will maintain the yards and
landscaping.
Along with the FHL Bank of
Topeka and the RCB Bank,
Oklahoma Housing Finance
Agency provided fi nancing for
the development. OHFA awarded
it $4,782,562 in Section 1602
Exchange funds.
Chairman of OHFA’s Board of
Trustees, Richard Lillard, spoke
during The Fair Grounds grand
opening and ribbon cutting cer-emony
October 20. He praised
CUDI for never giving up on the
project during the four years it
took to complete it and for creat-ing
such beautiful homes.
“This development takes my
breath away,” he told the crowd in
attendance.
One of The Fair Grounds’
newest residents, Senoil Holmes,
also spoke at the ceremony.
“Since I was a little girl, I had
always wanted a house with a
red door that would welcome me
with love and hope,” she said.
“This place not only gives my
children a beautiful yard to play
in but a place to grow and call
home.”
It thrills James to see a renais-sance
of his old neighborhood. It
is something he has wanted for
decades.
“This was a vision I had in col-lege
– to come back and reinvest
in the neighborhood,” he said.
A combination of elements, such as stained concrete fl oors,
recessed lighting, and uniquely designed soffi ts create a
beautiful kitchen and living room area in one of the homes.
OHFA Trustees allocate $5.6
million in Tax Credits
OHFA’s Board of Trustees
approved at its November
meeting reservations of
Affordable Housing Tax Credits
totaling $5.6 million to build or
rehabilitate affordable housing in
Oklahoma.
The following developers
received funding:
Claremore Village, LP
Claremore Village
Claremore
Construction
20 fourplexes (80 units)
$750,000
Bulldogger-GMC, LP
Bulldogger Apartments
Dewey
Acquisition and rehabilitation
48 apartments
$323,995
Linden Woods II, LP
Linden Woods II
Durant
Construction
40 single-family homes
$750,000
PreservingUS, Inc.
Enid Senior Residences
Enid
Acquisition and rehabilitation
30 apartments
$576,357
Madill Affordable Housing, LP
Madill Affordable Housing
Madill
Construction
25 single-family homes
$502,511
Mannford Senior, LP
Mannford Senior
Mannford
Acquisition and rehabilitation
27 apartments
$152,572
HRM III, LP
Legends at Hickory Ridge III
McAlester
Construction
38 single-family homes
$750,000
Ironman-GMC, LP
Ironman Apartments
Nowata
Acquisition and rehabilitation
44 apartments
$310,127
MCN Housing Division, LP #1
Mission Addition
Okmulgee
Construction
35 single-family homes
$666,163
Sallisaw Family Housing, LP
RoseRock Estates I & II
Sallisaw
Acquisition and rehabilitation
12 fourplexes (48 units)
$355,145
South Rock Creek Estates, LLC
South Rock Creek Estates
Shawnee
Construction
20 single-family homes
$493,755
More information on AHTC
can be found at www.ohfa.org by
clicking on the Developers icon.
In January, Oklahoma Hous-ing
Finance Agency started a
year-round fundraiser called
Jeans Day Every Wednesday.
Employees could pay to wear
jeans to work
every Wednes-day
during 2011
by signing up for
either a payroll
deduction or a
one-time payment.
All of the money
collected would
go directly to two
nonprofi t organi-zations,
Santa’s
Sleigh Inc. and
the United Way of
Central Oklahoma.
More than 80 OHFA employ-ees
participated in Jeans Day
Every Wednesday which raised
more than $5,000 total.
OHFA Rental Assistance
Specialist Rhonda Dodd helped
come up with the idea for the
fundraiser.
“After co-chairing the United
Way campaign last year, a nice
chunk of money we raised was
from the extra jeans days at the
offi ce,” she said. “So I thought
if we combined
Santa’s Sleigh and
United Way to-gether
as a yearly
fundraiser and at
an affordable cost,
it would be a win-win
for everyone!”
Due to the
success of the
fundraiser and the
numerous positive
feedback received
from staff mem-bers,
OHFA will repeat the pro-gram
in 2012.
Every year, OHFA participates
in the United Way fundraising
campaign. OHFA employees also
strongly support Santa’s Sleigh,
an organization dedicated to rais-ing
funds to purchase Christmas
presents for homeless children.
Jeans Days raise more than
$5,000 for two nonprofits