Affordable Housing Task Force — Columbia, SC
Date: 2021-01-12
Time: 11:00

COLUMBIA AFFORDABLE HOUSING TASK FORCE MEETING AGENDA
 TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021


The Columbia Affordable Housing Task Force will conduct a meeting on Tuesday, January 12,
2021 at 11:00 a.m. using Video Conferencing Technology. The meeting can be viewed online at
www.columbiasc.gov.

CALL TO ORDER

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

1. Approval of December 8, 2020 Meeting Minutes

COMMITTEE DISCUSSION

2. Discussion of 2021 Goals
 A. Affordable Housing Unit Goal
 B. Definition of Affordable Housing

ANNOUNCEMENTS

NEXT MEETING DATE

ADJOURNMENT




 Page 1 of 1

COLUMBIA AFFORDABLE HOUSING TASK FORCE MEETING AGENDA
 TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021


The Columbia Affordable Housing Task Force will conduct a meeting on Tuesday, January 12,
2021 at 11:00 a.m. using Video Conferencing Technology. The meeting can be viewed online at
www.columbiasc.gov.

CALL TO ORDER

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

1. Approval of December 8, 2020 Meeting Minutes

COMMITTEE DISCUSSION

2. Discussion of 2021 Goals
 A. Affordable Housing Unit Goal
 B. Definition of Affordable Housing

ANNOUNCEMENTS

NEXT MEETING DATE

ADJOURNMENT




 Page 1 of 1
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 COLUMBIA AFFORDABLE HOUSING TASK FORCE MEETING MINUTES
 TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2020

CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 11:00 p.m. by Chairwoman Tameika Isaac Devine.

 Attendee Name Present Absent Late Arrived




 Attachment: AHTF_MN_12082020 (6450 : Approval of Minutes)
 Tameika Isaac Devine   
 John Andoh   
 Jeff Armstrong   
 Julie Ann Avin   
 Reggie Barner   
 Sue Berkowitz   
 Brenna Bernadin   
 Bryan Grady   
 Dylan Gunnels   
 Tonya Isaac   
 Jeff Larimore   
 Ivory Matthews   
 Jennifer Moore   
 Mary Louise Resch   
 Shayla Riley   
 Lila Anna Sauls   
 Gregory Sprouse   
 Allison Terracio   
 Regina Williams   
 Lester Young   
 Jim Zieche   
 Chris Zimmer   

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

1. Approval of October 13, 2020 Meeting Minutes

Upon a motion made by Lila Anna Sauls and seconded by Bryan Grady, Council voted
unanimously to approve the October 13, 2020 meeting minutes.




 Affordable Housing Task Force December 8, 2020 Meeting Minutes - Page 1 of 5
 Packet Pg. 2
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 COLUMBIA AFFORDABLE HOUSING TASK FORCE MEETING MINUTES
 TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2020
COMMITTEE DISCUSSION

2. Real Estate Liquidity for Affordable Housing - Ms. Lauren Taylor, CEO of The Haven
 Group




 Attachment: AHTF_MN_12082020 (6450 : Approval of Minutes)
Lauren Taylor, CEO of The Haven Group provided an overview of real estate liquidity for
affordable housing model. There is a lack of liquidity in the real estate market place. We will
purchase, renovate, and lease single family and two to four-unit housing to offer as rentals to the
under-served affordable housing market through our iBuyer platform, MLS, and auctions. In the
past two years, we have done almost 2,000 homes. Housing affordability isn’t showing any signs
of improvement and the National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates a shortage of seven
million homes. Home values are growing four times as fast as wages and rent rates are growing
twice as fast as wage growth. Institutional investors account for 30% of purchases and they are
incentivized to increase property values and rents due to the debt they have on assets. The
traditional mom and pop localized investors are dying out. There is a big shortage across all
government incentive programs. More institutional or large scale investors are consistently
deciding not to entertain vouchers for the properties they manage. Our non-profit will own all of
the homes. The for-profit will run the operation of those properties and create liquidity back to the
non-profit. We are using the negative attributes that are causing inflation to solve the problem in a
positive way. We can harness the power of the private market in order to further the overall
mission. We will start in Columbia first, get a lot of assets under management, and then we will
strategically move across the southeast. We are opening up a wide range of inventory in areas that
need improvement. We will focus on green renovations and financial coaching.

Councilor Devine asked how many units The Haven Group owns in the Columbia area and how
many units do they want to add to the market in the next few years.

Lauren Taylor, CEO of The Haven Group said the non-profit is approved in South Carolina and
our goal for the first year is 500 units.

Tonya Isaac asked if the company does rent to own?

Lauren Taylor, CEO of The Haven Group said the traditional rent to own model is not to the benefit
of the individual. We want to allow people to rent in our program until they have the ability to buy.
They can buy the asset they live in from the non-profit at the cost of what we have in the property.

Councilor Davis said there’s interest in renting quality units and I look forward to learning more
about the model.



 Affordable Housing Task Force December 8, 2020 Meeting Minutes - Page 2 of 5
 Packet Pg. 3
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 COLUMBIA AFFORDABLE HOUSING TASK FORCE MEETING MINUTES
 TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2020
Jeff Larimore asked what metric do you concentrate on to purchase in bulk.

Lauren Taylor, CEO of The Haven Group said we did one off purchases. When you have
purchasing power, you can get properties. We have an acquisition division and a renovation
division. At full scale we employed over 1,000 people in South Carolina.




 Attachment: AHTF_MN_12082020 (6450 : Approval of Minutes)
Bryan Grady, PhD said thank you for being willing to accept Housing Choice vouchers. Why do
you think your model is superior to a community land trust or other shared equity approach?

Lauren Taylor, CEO of The Haven Group said a community land trust doesn’t give you enough
power. We want to provide affordable units across the board based on average incomes.

Ivory Matthews said the Housing Authority released a solicitation for property management
services particularly for our units under the non-profit arm. We recently awarded a contract to The
Haven Group to oversee 400 of our units in Bayberry Mews, Capital Heights, which is a single
family affordable rental model, Celia Saxon I and II, T.S. Martin, Bentley Courts, and Rosewood
Student Housing. We are excited about engaging with that relationship. We have an aggressive
plan to bring those properties up to a new standard.

Tonya Isaac asked if financial coaching will be passed along to people in housing.

Ivory Matthews said the Housing Authority has a certified housing counselor who works with our
families. We will engage in more of those conversations with our new property management team
to get that information to all of our families.

Dylan Gunnels asked what are you looking for from the community and what can the task force
members do.

Lauren Taylor, CEO of The Haven Group said we are looking to make connections. We would
love to collaborate with other non-profits and garner overall community support.

Mary Louise Resch introduced herself as the Director of Philanthropy for Central Carolina Habitat
for Humanity. We also focus on affordable home ownership and neighborhood revitalization. We
are embracing the one block at a time community model. Today, we dedicated another house in
the City of Cayce for a young mother and her family. We represent Richland, Lexington, and
Fairfield Counties. We will be building and rehabbing homes in the City of Columbia next fall.




 Affordable Housing Task Force December 8, 2020 Meeting Minutes - Page 3 of 5
 Packet Pg. 4
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 COLUMBIA AFFORDABLE HOUSING TASK FORCE MEETING MINUTES
 TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2020


3. Report from the Public Education & Awareness Committee - Ms. Brenna Bernadin, Chair

Jennifer Moore reported that the Partnership and Public Education & Awareness Committees held
a joint meeting. There’s the need to have messaging for this entire group, to make sure we are




 Attachment: AHTF_MN_12082020 (6450 : Approval of Minutes)
using consistent definitions for affordable housing, sharing common messaging when talking
about the benefits and who can benefit from affordable housing; and the need we have for
affordable housing versus the stock that’s available. It is important to condense all of this into
bullet points. We would like to request help from the City's Public and Media Relations
Department with crafting that messaging. We would also like assistance from interested committee
members.

Councilor Devine said it is key for us to have a consistent definition of affordable housing and that
we are concise with our messaging.

4. Additional Committee Reports - No additional reports were made at this time.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Tonya Isaac requested information to share with residents on employment, financial coaching, and
other opportunities.

Councilor Devine asked Ms. Saeed to draft a document that can be shared broadly.

Ivory Matthews announced the release of a solicitation for development partners. The Housing
Authority is looking at comprehensive renovations to every residence they own and the
development of new affordable units on vacant properties.

Jim Zieche reported that the Charleston referendum failed by a slight margin. More Justice
continues to work with the powers in Columbia to put our trust fund on a referendum in the future.

Jeff Armstrong said Family Promise is working to build partnerships for various renters and
welcome homes for families. We are focusing on child and youth development. Clayton Homes
donated a house to us and we will bolster that relationship in the future.

Shayla Riley said the last three houses for D. H. Swinton Pointe on Read Street closed this week.
The eight families are from different walks of life and this is a great representation of what
affordable housing is.



 Affordable Housing Task Force December 8, 2020 Meeting Minutes - Page 4 of 5
 Packet Pg. 5
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 COLUMBIA AFFORDABLE HOUSING TASK FORCE MEETING MINUTES
 TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2020


Bryan Grady, PhD said SC Housing is focusing on evictions. The CDC moratorium is set to expire
at the end of the month. There are tens of thousands of renters facing evictions unless action is
taken. SC Housing is working with partners to come up with more resources for a renter and
homeowner assistance fund.




 Attachment: AHTF_MN_12082020 (6450 : Approval of Minutes)
Dylan Gunnels said Mutual Aid of the Midlands is seeing an uptick in calls for utility and rent
assistance. We created a resource roadmap and we want to share it with the community.

Missy Gentry, Assistant City Manager said we will pull definitions out of our consolidated plan
and comprehensive plan so that we will have a draft to start with.

Councilor Devine said the first session for The Color of Law is Thursday at 6:00 p.m. We have
300 folks registered to participate and we have a great panel that will be moderated by Warren
Bolton. In addition to discussing a definition for affordable housing at our next meeting, I want us
to come up with a goal that we can recommend to City Council for adding affordable housing units
to our market over the next five or ten years.

Councilor Davis said it is important to give policymakers goals for the future. It is important to
know that we will take your recommendation seriously.

NEXT MEETING DATE

Tuesday, January 12, 2020 at 11:00 a.m.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was closed at 12:19 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by:



Erika D. Moore Hammond, CMC
City Clerk




 Affordable Housing Task Force December 8, 2020 Meeting Minutes - Page 5 of 5
 Packet Pg. 6

COLUMBIA AFFORDABLE HOUSING TASK FORCE MEETING MINUTES
 TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021

CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 11:03 a.m. by Chair Tameika Isaac Devine.
 Attendee Name Present Absent Late Arrived
 Tameika Isaac Devine   
 John Andoh    11:36 AM
 Jeff Armstrong   
 Julie Ann Avin   
 Reggie Barner   
 Sue Berkowitz   
 Brenna Bernadin   
 Bryan Grady   
 Dylan Gunnels   
 Tonya Isaac   
 Jeff Larimore    11:59 AM
 Ivory Matthews   
 Jennifer Moore   
 Mary Louise Resch   
 Shayla Riley    11:10 AM
 Lila Anna Sauls   
 Gregory Sprouse   
 Allison Terracio   
 Regina Williams    11:31 AM
 Lester Young   
 Jim Zieche   
 Chris Zimmer   
APPROVAL OF MINUTES

1. Approval of December 8, 2020 Meeting Minutes

Upon a motion made by Lila Anna Sauls and seconded by Jim Zieche, the task force members
voted unanimously to approve the December 8, 2020 Meeting Minutes.




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 COLUMBIA AFFORDABLE HOUSING TASK FORCE MEETING MINUTES
 TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021
COMMITTEE DISCUSSION

2. Discussion of 2021 Goals

 A. Definition of Affordable Housing

Councilwoman Devine, Chair said in order for us to provide robust recommendations to City
Council, we must know where we are and where we want to go. I want us to focus on what
affordable housing means to us in the Midlands. Based on that definition, we will set a goal for
the number of affordable housing units we will recommend to City and County Councils over a
specific period of time. We have a huge affordable housing deficit. HUD’s definition of
affordable housing looks at 30% of your income. That doesn't capture the reality on the ground.
What is affordability for housing here?

Krista Hampton, City of Columbia Planning and Development Services Director said it comes
down to having available housing at each level. We have a variety of sectors in our community
that we need to address.

Gloria Saeed, City of Columbia Community Development Director said the messaging doesn't
need to focus on an income amount, but the people and what affordable housing is.

Leigh DeForth, AICP, City of Columbia Comprehensive Planner said it is important to talk about
the concept of cost burden and the concept of complete neighborhoods that have access to goods
and services that make affordable housing a part of an affordable lifestyle.

Ivory Matthews, Columbia Housing Authority added that it may be important to back into a
definition by looking at the cost of what it means to rent and purchase a home that is affordable.

Bryan Grady, PhD, SC State Housing Finance & Development Authority said affordable housing
is what a household can afford. Step one is stabilizing those who are truly low income. There is a
distinction between not being able to afford where you want to live and not being able to afford
any housing, anywhere.

Lila Anna Sauls, Homeless No More said we have to be cautious as we develop affordable
housing so that it fits into existing neighborhoods. The messaging is mixed-use. We are not
going to create pockets of poverty.

Gloria Saeed, Community Development Director said the messaging should include evidence of
where a diversity of quality housing has improved neighborhoods.


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 COLUMBIA AFFORDABLE HOUSING TASK FORCE MEETING MINUTES
 TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021


Jennifer Moore, United Way of the Midlands said the Partnership and Public Education
committees talked about not using some of the HUD language. I wrote down quality rental and
homeownership opportunities for people at various income levels that build complete and
thriving communities. It’s not just about housing, but also about economic opportunities.

Brenna Bernadin, Fast Forward said we also discussed that affordable housing should be based
on what a person or family can pay for while still having money left over for basic necessities
like food, transportation, and health care. What we consider affordable depends on households
not a set number and how we can translate that into a thriving community.

Councilwoman Devine, Chair agreed to wordsmith and share Jennifer’s and Brenna’s
information with the group in hopes of having a definition by the next meeting.

Councilman Davis said it is about the total individual and the things they need to be a part of a
community and to be perceived as being productive. It is important to know what the challenges
are and then be willing to advocate for the people and the concept.

Mary Louise Resch, Habitat for Humanity said in addition to infill builds within neighborhoods,
we will work with homeowners who may not be able to afford to fix their homes.

Julie Ann Avin, MIRCI said there are income concerns and accessibility issues for people with
disabilities and the elderly. We need to be mindful of those needs in the construction and
development phase.

Councilwoman Devine, Chair agreed that the definition should include age, income, and ability.

Lester Young, Just Leadership said affordable wages are hindering people from living in an
affordable way. We have to consider the wage gap that is causing people to fall behind and how
COVID has impacted this even more.

Councilwoman Devine, Chair said as we advocate for our residents, it is important for us to
understand and include what the living wage should be.

Gregory Sprouse, Central Midlands Council of Governments said there is a lot of good data that
quantifies transportation costs. Transportation costs can have a significant impact on what
affordability means.




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 COLUMBIA AFFORDABLE HOUSING TASK FORCE MEETING MINUTES
 TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021
Regina Williams, Booker T. Washington Heights Neighborhood said I would like us to consider
aging in place housing and mobility freedom housing to keep people in the community. I shared
information about a program in Atlanta that deals with code enforcement.

Jeff Larimore, Midlands Housing Trust Fund said we are serving families in the service industry.
We have to find effective messengers to go against the stigma of affordable housing.

John Andoh, The COMET said we want to be mindful of how transportation costs can affect
persons with low income as we continue to price the transit system and pursue grants to
subsidize transit.

Brenna Bernadin, Fast Forward added that it is hard to find a second apartment once you are
evicted. We need to make sure we have affordable housing for people who have evictions.

Councilwoman Devine, Chair asked the Legal and Zoning Committee to look at the laws around
evictions.

Councilman Davis said the NAACP is putting together a navigator program for people who are
facing eviction. This will be an opportunity for this group to help in that venture.

 B. Affordable Housing Unit Goal

Bryan Grady, PhD, SC State Housing Finance & Development Authority said Councilwoman
Devine asked me to put together a potential estimate of the scale of affordable housing that
would need to be produced to make a substantial amount of progress in terms of addressing the
City’s and County’s affordable housing needs. The Comprehensive Housing Affordability
Strategy dataset sorts people’s housing conditions by Area Median Income. Many sources of
state and federal financing are attached to these AMI levels. There’s a real need to focus on the
extremely low income population. For a single adult earning 30% of the AMI to get to the 30%
threshold, that person has to be only paying $383 a month in rent and utilities. The tier one rental
housing need includes those who are living in substandard housing and those whose economic
situation is untenable. The tier two need includes people who are severely cost burdened with
very low income and moderately cost burdened with extremely low income. The total housing
need across the two tiers is 16,000 rental units in Richland County with 7,500 of those being in
the City of Columbia. There needs to be a series of rent and income restrictions that ensure that
this housing directly serves the identified populations.




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 COLUMBIA AFFORDABLE HOUSING TASK FORCE MEETING MINUTES
 TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021
Discussion of the committee included affordable housing bonds, inclusionary housing statutes,
cost of construction, short-term and long-term goals, actual units built annually, for-profit
developers, a local trust fund, low wealth households, and development of dilapidated infill lots.

The recommended goal is 10,000 units over 10 years.

In preparation for the next meeting:

  Krista Hampton was asked to pull 2018, 2019, and 2020 building permits.


  Councilwoman Devine will pull the American Community Survey.


  Assistant City Manager Gentry was asked to identify the number of vacant lots in the
 City of Columbia.

  The task force members will continue to discuss the definition of affordable housing and
 the affordable housing unit goals at the next meeting.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
Councilwoman Devine, Chair announced that Session 3 of the Color of Law discussion is next
Thursday, January 21, 2021 with the author Richard Rothstein.

NEXT MEETING DATE
February 9, 2021 at 11:00 a.m.

ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 12:32 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by:



Erika D. Moore Hammond, CMC
City Clerk




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