In 2007, J. Ronald Terwilliger, Chairman and CEO of Trammel Crowe Residential, committed $5 million to the Urban Land Institute, establishing a center dedicated to addressing America's workforce housing shortage. The center's mission is to mobilize the private sector to measurably increase the production of workforce housing in mixed income communities located near centers of employment and transportation hubs. The center is targeting moderate-income workers earning between 60 and 120% of area median income - people who earn too much to qualify for traditional housing assistance but not enough to afford much of the market- rate housing that is available.

The Terwilliger Center is employing a multi-faceted strategy to address the workforce housing challenge, which includes:

• Advocating for the prominence of workforce housing on the national policy agenda, as well as at the state and local levels;
• Encouraging inclusionary zoning through development incentives to create mixed- income housing;
• Fostering public/private partnerships to create housing near center of employment and transportation hubs;
• Promoting innovative building technologies and creative financing mechanisms;
• Working with business owners and corporations to develop employer-assisted housing; and
• Removing regulatory barriers to housing production.

The Terwilliger Center has, in addition to its work at the national level, encouraged regional workforce housing initiatives in association with the District Councils. This has included a major effort in Atlanta.

CLICK HERE to go to the ULI Terwilliger Center Home Page.

ULI Terwilliger Center - ATLANTA

In 2007, The ULI Atlanta District Council organized a regional effort to help facilitate implementation of the Terwilliger Center's goals and objectives. A steering committee chaired by Ray Christman, retired president and CEO of the FHLBank of Atlanta, was established to identify projects and initiatives that could further workforce housing development in the Atlanta region These projects have included:

1. Employer-Assisted Housing: The Center, in partnership with the Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership (ANDP), is working on a pilot project with Emory University and Cousins Properties to provide down payment assistance to income qualifying Emory workforce households in return for the employee foregoing their campus parking permit. The proposed program will provide a forgivable loan of to employees with incomes of not more than 120% of AMI, to purchase homes in the new Cousins Emory Point residential development project adjacent to the Emory campus. The pilot is aimed at 25-50 participants with the hope of future expansion.

2. City of Atlanta Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance: The Center is assisting the City of Atlanta Bureau of Housing develop a voluntary inclusionary zoning ordinance that would provide a broad menu of developer incentives, including density bonuses, reduced parking requirements, reduced setback requirements, fee reductions, etc. The
Center has drafted a model ordinance along these lines and hopes to assist the city in its implementation

3. Workforce Housing Market Study: The Center sponsored a study in late 2008 that examines the need for and availability of workforce housing in metro Atlanta. This is the most comprehensive and targeted study of workforce housing yet undertaken in the region and will serve as an important basis for further consideration of this issue, both by the Center and others. Among other findings, the study shows that over 30% of the four county region's population (an area with over 3 million people) are workforce households, based on income. It also shows that households earning 60-120% of AMI have been increasing rapidly over the past 15-20 years and that, prior to the housing slowdown of the past 18 months, new homes prices were on average well above what these households could earn. CLICK HERE to view the full report.

4. Mortgage Foreclosure Mitigation: The Center has sponsored and facilitated a efforts to help organize the Atlanta regional response to the growing mortgage foreclosure crisis, which has profound effects on workforce housing quality and availability. The Center has sponsored a meeting of local foundations to encourage them to begin investing in programs aimed at preventing foreclosure. As a result, the Atlanta Community Foundation will be committing $100,000 to address this issue, which will hopefully leverage other foundation dollars. The Center also co-sponsored with ANDP and the Department of Community Affairs on October 8 a half-day forum for local officials in the region on the new Neighborhood Stabilization Fund dollars that will be available through CDBG. Finally, the Center is providing technical assistance and advice to two local non-profits who are attempting to establish programs to acquire, rehabilitate, redeploy abandoned and foreclosed properties in targeted neighborhoods in south and west Atlanta.

5. DeKalb County Housing Strategy: The Center is working with DeKalb County, a large, urbanized part of the metro Atlanta region, to develop a workforce housing program, including recommendations for its implementation and administration. DeKalb County has a substantial need for workforce housing and - both preservation of existing units and development of new ones. This effort, to be carried out for the county in partnership with the Livable Communities Coalition, will be directed to identifying tools and resources that can help the county successfully implement a workforce housing strategy.

CLICK HERE for a listing of the ULI Atlanta Terwilliger Center for Workforce Housing Steering Committee

RESOURCES

ULI Terwilliger Center's newest publication, Beltway Burden: The Combined Cost of Housing and Transportation in the Greater Washington DC, Metropolitan Area. The report measures the combined housing and transportation costs for 22 areas within the Washington DC region, showing that as families move farther from employment centers, their housing costs decline, but transportation costs increase substantially. While other studies have looked at commuting times for various locations, this research goes a step further in looking at the combined housing and transportation costs, and the toll these cost burdens take on working families. The report illuminates the need for better coordination of housing and transportation policies at the local, state, and federal levels of government in order to create balanced, vibrant, and sustainable communities for future generations. The report can be found online HERE.