Redevelopment Agency’s Housing Enhancement Loan Program (HELP) Assists Homeowners in North Park

Sept. 13, 2010 - PRLog -- SAN DIEGO, Calif.— Ilias Zenkich, a long time resident of North Park, had a retaining wall on his property falling apart, but had nowhere to turn.

Now, thanks to a $30,000 loan he received from the City of San Diego Redevelopment Agency’s Housing Enhancement Loan Program (HELP), Zenkich has replaced his wall, added new fencing and a gate, and repaired his driveway.

Photos are available upon request.  

Mr. Zenkich is one of twelve homeowners in North Park to take advantage of the program and one of more than 400 homeowners that have benefited from the Redevelopment Agency’s HELP program since its inception. Under the program, homeowners make interior and exterior repairs and improvements, ranging from new paint to roofs, furnaces, plumbing, solar panels and California-friendly landscaping.

HELP Loans Availability
HELP loans are now available in 11 of San Diego’s 17 redevelopment project areas: City Heights, College Grove, Crossroads, Grantville, Linda Vista, North Park, San Ysidro and the SEDC area of influence (including Central Imperial, Gateway Center West, Mount Hope and Southcrest).  

In North Park a twelve member Redevelopment Project Area Committee (PAC) advises the Redevelopment Agency on redevelopment activity within the project area. Due to the success of the HELP program, the PAC has recommended that the Agency increase the annual allocation for the program from $250,000 to $500,000. The additional funding will assist at least seven more North Park households with improvements to their homes.

“We are very pleased with the success of the HELP program and look forward to assisting more North Park residents,” said PAC Chair, Kirsten Clemons. “The repairs made possible by these loans improve the appearance and safety of the neighborhood, which benefits the entire community, not only those receiving the loans.”

Who is Eligible, How to Apply
The loans are available to homeowners living in or near a redevelopment project area and whose gross household income does not exceed 100 percent of the San Diego Area Median Income (AMI). The 2010 San Diego AMI for a family of four is $75,500.

HELP funds come from redevelopment project area housing set-aside funds, and the program is administered by the San Diego Housing Commission on behalf of the Redevelopment Agency.
The one-time loans, which range from $5,000 to $30,000, have an annual simple interest of three percent and are forgivable over 10 years. The homeowners must live in the home during the term of the loan.

The City of San Diego Redevelopment Agency created HELP as part of an overall redevelopment program to increase, improve and preserve the supply of low- and moderate-income housing occupied by persons and families of extremely low-, very low-, low- and moderate-income within the redevelopment project areas and the surrounding neighborhoods.  

For more information about the HELP loans, homeowners should contact:
The City of San Diego Redevelopment Agency
1200 Third Avenue, 14th Floor, MS 56D
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 236-6700
www.sandiego.gov/HELP

About the City of San Diego Redevelopment Agency
The City of San Diego Redevelopment Agency created by the City Council in 1958, uses special legal and financial mechanisms to eliminate blight and improve economic and physical conditions in designated areas of the City. The Agency’s purview encompasses 17 project areas, study areas and affordable housing. Activities within the project areas are carried out by the City’s Redevelopment Department and two public, nonprofit city corporations: Centre City Development Corporation (CCDC) and Southeastern Economic Development Corporation (SEDC).  The Agency also administers eight Project Area Committees (PAC) that advise the agency on the adoption of redevelopment plans and implementing redevelopment projects. For more information, visit: http://www.sandiego.gov/redevelopment-agency/