10400 Detrick Avenue
Kensington, MD 20895
(240) 773-9000 (Phone)
(301) 949-4690 (Fax)
(301) 949-3222 (TTY)
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10400 Detrick Avenue |
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Dale Drive Apartments
Progress reported in Dale Drive renovations The following photos, taken on November 6, show the progress inside the building. The one on the left is the hallway on the entrance level and on the right is a kitchen of one of the units. posted November 26, 2007, 4:23 p.m. Commission approves Dale Drive project Information on Selection Criteria
Must be able to live successfully in the relatively independent environment of 527 Dale Drive. Must be a US citizen or national, or non-citizen with eligible immigration status. Must be willing to live alone, i.e., no couples will be allowed. Must have an income that does not exceed 30% of area median income, which is $18,950 for a one person household. Must not have a criminal history that includes felony convictions for:
Must not be a sex offender. Must not have a sex offense appear on their criminal background check or be listed on the permanent state registry of sex offenders. Must be over 18 years of age. Must be referred through case managers from Montgomery County agencies, public or private. No self-referrals will be accepted. Must be willing and able to engage in case management. Must be interviewed by two clinical staff. Must not need continuous supervision. Must be able to care for themselves, i.e., perform the activities of daily living. posted April 7, 2006, 10:48 p.m. Fact Sheet
If you have questions that are not addressed in the FAQ section, please submit your questions to hrs@hocmc.org. This e-mail address can also be used to address e-mail to specific Commissioners. This page will be updated as responses to community questions are added. Project Overview A team of county agencies and nonprofit organizations are proposing to buy the apartment building at 527 Dale Drive, rehabilitate it, and provide permanent, supportive housing for 8 single disabled adults who are exiting homelessness. Population to be Served and Proposed Program 1. Who would the residents be, and where would they come from? They would be single adults with disabilities, such as physical, emotional, and developmental disabilities, and substance abuse, or any combinations of these. They would be referred from homeless shelters and homeless outreach programs. 2. Would this be a homeless shelter? No. Shelters typically provide emergency beds to homeless people in dormitory-like settings, on a temporary, night-by-night basis. This property would be permanent housing, and continue to look like a typical apartment building. 3. What is permanent supportive housing? Permanent supportive housing is like typical apartment life, except that a range of services are also offered to residents. (These are described in Question 6 below.) It would be permanent in the sense that there would be no pre-determined minimum or maximum amount of time that residents could stay. Like in any other apartment, residents would sign a standard apartment lease. (See Question 4 for more details on the lease and how long residents could stay.) Residents would be selected who are ready to live relatively independently, in a permanent housing environment. (See Questions 9-11 below for more information on selection criteria.) 4. How long could residents stay? Residents could stay as long as they want, so long as they honor the terms of their lease; for instance, like all renters, residents would be subject to eviction if they do not pay their rent on time, engage in criminal activity, or continually disturb their neighbors, Residents’ leases in this property would also require them to participate in regular ongoing case management. They may choose to leave – if they start to earn more money, if they find another living situation, or for any of the other reasons regular tenants choose to move. 5. How many residents would live in the property? It is a 10 unit building, but we are proposing to only place 8 adults in the property, one in each of the 8 apartments. See the answer to Question 6 for information on how the 9th and 10th units will be used. 6. What staff supervision would you have at the site? The 9th unit would be used as an apartment for a resident counselor, who would be paid to be on-call nights and weekends, and would be recruited from the “graduates” of the County’s homeless system. The 10th unit would be used as an office, for a social worker / case manager, who would be on-site during business hours. In this property, a full time social worker / case manager, would work on-site during normal business hours. Residents would also be able to take advantage of a range of off-site services, all of which would be coordinated by the case manager, including psychiatric, medical, substance abuse and job readiness programs. In addition, a psychiatric rehabilitation counselor will work with residents, if appropriate, and would be visiting them in their apartments at least 6 times a month 7. You say this will be like any other apartment building in most ways. Would the residents pay rent? All residents would pay 30% of their monthly income for rent; federal grant funds would be used to cover the remaining costs associated with the property, which would include building expenses like property taxes, insurance, maintenance and repairs, as well as the cost of staff who are delivering services to residents. (See Question 25 below on financing sources) 8. Will the residents work, or will they hanging around the property and the neighborhood during the day? Our experience at other similar properties is that some will have worked, some will work when they are living in the property, and some may be assisted in looking for work. Some may be receiving disability (SSI) and be unable to work. Others may be off-site during the day in education or job readiness programs, or in treatment programs related to their disability. The project’s case managers would work with ALL residents to identify meaningful activities for them to be engaged in during the day, and will continually monitor their progress in participating in those activities. 9. What criteria would you use to select residents? The funding, described in Question 25 below, would require that residents be “chronically homeless”; that is, they would need to be exiting homeless and coming out of a homeless shelter or living on the street. They must also have a physical, medical, developmental, mental or other disability. However, in addition, the program would also limit occupancy to residents who would be able to live successfully in the relatively independent environment of this property. Residents who would NOT be candidates for this property are those who would need continuous supervision and those who are unable to perform the activities of daily living, that is, who are unable to care for themselves. 10. Would you be doing a criminal background check of residents? Absolutely, for 100% of the residents. Specifically, program staff would conduct both a tri-state and multi-state criminal background check. Program staff would review the background checks and would consider the nature of the offense, and would deny access to sex offenders, recent or repeated violent offenders, and those with recent drug-related criminal activity that would affect the well being of other tenants or the property. They would also consider how long ago the offense occurred, mitigating factors, and evidence of rehabilitation. When appropriate, program staff would consult with the Montgomery County Police for assistance interpreting the criminal background reports. 11. Will sex offenders be allowed to live at the property? Absolutely not. Admission will be barred to anyone who has a sex offense that appears on their criminal background check, or who is on the permanent state registry of sex offenders. 12. Can a neighborhood representative be on the tenant selection committee? Unfortunately not. That job would be handled by professional staff who have experience working with this population, and are best able to determine if the prospect meets the project’s entrance criteria and is likely to succeed at the property. There are also confidentiality and privacy issues involved. 13. Who is actually doing the project? The development of this property would be managed by a team of public and private sector officials, including officials from the following: a. County’s Department of Housing and Community Affairs (DHCA), which would fund a provide a portion of the property’s development costs, with federal funds available to the county, as well as local funding. b. County’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which would fund a portion of the cost of services being offered to residents; c. Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County (HOC), which would serve as owner, developer and manager of the property, and as such, would acquire the property, hire a general contractor and oversee the rehabilitation, and provide property management services after occupancy; and d. Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless (MCCH), a private nonprofit corporation, would screen and select the residents and manage the resident support services at the property and would provide the case management services. e. Threshold Services, Inc, a private nonprofit corporation, would provide the psychiatric rehabilitation services when appropriate. The team has been working for four years to identify sites to house people exiting homelessness, and to develop projects on those sites. 14. What is HOC’s experience with similar projects? HOC got its first HUD Supportive Housing Program (SHP) grant 18 years ago, in 1988, and has administered a total of 47 federally funded homeless projects since that time. HOC also administers the State’s Rental Allowance (RAP) program for homeless families in Montgomery County since it began in 1987. HOC’s programs currently serve 243 households exiting homelessness, including both singles and families. The programs include rental assistance, property management, case management, and other supportive services to help participants achieve residential stability, increase their skills and income, and work toward self-sufficiency. 15. What is MCCH’s experience with similar projects? Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless is a private non-profit corporation that was founded to address the needs of the homeless in Montgomery County in the early 1980’s. They operate a wide variety of homeless shelters and transitional and permanent housing projects for people exiting homelessness, and they also work on the policy and advocacy level on behalf of the County’s homeless population. 16. Why do you want to do THIS building? We have been looking for several years for small apartment buildings throughout the county to house this population. We prefer properties that are relatively small, in order to limit the concentration of large numbers of disabled people in one location, which is both detrimental to the residents AND troublesome to most neighborhoods. The typical building size is 10 to 30 units, so his property falls on the lower end of that range. We are particularly interested in properties that are VACANT, to avoid having to relocate existing tenants. 17. Did you take this building by eminent domain or condemn it? No. HOC proposes to purchase this property under the County’s Right of First Refusal ordinance, found in Chapter 53-A of the County Code. This requires sellers of rental housing to notify the County when they get a signed sales contract from a third party if the building was constructed before 1981 and (1) they have stopped using the property as rental housing, or (2) have displaced at least one-third of the tenants in the property in any 12 month period due to rent increases or a plan to rehabilitate the units. The notice must give the County and HOC a right to match the third party offer. HOC is proposing to purchase this property under that right of first refusal. For information on how much HOC would pay for the property, See Question 21, and for information on the project timeline, see Question 28. 18. Have you thought about the impact that your project will have on the Sligo Creek Elementary School and Silver Spring International Middle School schools? As stated above, we would be doing very careful screening of the residents (see Questions 9-11); there would be no sex offenders, and residents, although formerly homeless, would be people who would, in the opinion of our professional and experienced staff, live successfully in the relatively independent setting offered by this property. The property would have no impact on the schools in terms of enrollment because the property would serve single adults. 19. Are you doing anything about Ertter's Market, the corner store on Dale Drive adjacent to the school? If your concern is that our residents will be too tempted to buy alcoholic beverages at the store, we would attempt to control that by good resident selection and with regular oversight by our case manager. If your concern is the big “Beer For Sale” sign, the County is prepared to approach the owner about the possibility of using the County’s façade improvement program to improve their exterior signage and façade. 20. Are you planning to buy the apartment building next to 527 too? That building is not for sale. If it were to come available for sale, HOC would consider the potential acquisition. 21. How much would you be paying for the property? The acquisition price would be $1,450,000. 22. Who is the seller, and would they be making a windfall profit on this? The current owner is 527 Dale Drive LLC,. HOC would buy the property under the County’s right of first refusal (see Question 17) which means that HOC would be matching an actual offer from an unrelated third party, and would be paying market price, no more and no less. 23. What are the apartments going to be like? The building currently has 10 1-bedroom apartments. The current owner has begun to remove kitchens and bathrooms. HOC would complete that process, and would completely renovate 9 of the 10 units, including providing complete, new kitchens and bathrooms in each of these units. The 10th unit would be converted into an office for the on-site case manager and project director. The apartment units would be fully furnished. The Numbers – Project Costs and Sources 24. What is it going to cost to develop the property? The total development costs would be approximately $2.5 million, including $1.45 million in acquisition costs, approximately $700,000 in construction costs, and approximately $350,000 in fees and other costs, including architectural, legal, accounting, insurance, environmental assessment and furniture expenses 25. What would be the sources of development funds? $700,000 in HUD HOME funding, approximately $1.5 million from the County’s Housing Initiative Fund, $100,000 in State funding from the Maryland Affordable Housing Trust, and $200,000 in private contributions to the project. 26. What subsidy sources would you use to operate the property? MCCH has received an annual award of approximately $120,000 in HUD Supportive Housing Program (SHP) Funds to cover the cost of operating and maintaining the property and providing services to the residents. In addition, residents will pay rent equal to 30 percent of their annual income. In addition, the County’s Department of Health and Human Services has committed to providing approximately $20,000 per year to the project as a local match to the HUD McKinney Supportive Housing Program award. 27. Are you doing this anywhere else in the County? There are several permanent supportive housing projects throughout the county serving people exiting homeless, either completed or in the pipeline, in Gaithersburg, Rockville, Bethesda, and Silver Spring. In addition, there are scattered site rental units serving this population, in rental apartments, condominiums and single family homes throughout the county. 28. What is your proposed timeline? HOC is currently under contract to purchase the property. The plan would be for HOC to close on the acquisition by mid May, 2006, to hire a general contractor and start construction by July, 2006, and to complete construction and begin occupancy in the first quarter of 2007. 29. What happens if someone with a substance abuse or mental illness issue relapses or stops taking their medications? Our case manager and resident counselor are trained to identify these situations as they are developing, and would immediately ensure that the resident is obtaining appropriate treatment. AND, residents who violate their lease, which could include undertaking illegal activity in their unit or becoming a nuisance to their neighbors, will be evicted. 30. Would residents be permitted to have guests? If yes, how would you ensure that the guests do not effectively move in? Like in any other apartment property, guests will be permitted. However, we would use the standard Montgomery County lease, which says that guests can only stay in the property up to an aggregate of two weeks in any calendar year. We would also have an internal security system, which is likely to include an electronic card entry system for residents as well as video cameras on entrance and exit doors, to help us identify who is coming into the property. 31. What can we do if we have additional comments we want to pass along to you? HOC will be holding a public hearing on the project on April 20, at 6:30 PM, at its offices at 10400 Detrick Avenue in Kensington. You can also submit written comments to HOC through April 21; mail them to Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County, 10400 Detrick Avenue, Kensington, Maryland, 20895. Or, email your comments to HOC at hrs@hocmc.org. 32. The HOC public hearing on the project is being held during Montgomery County School’s spring break. Can the meeting be re-scheduled? Unfortunately not. A public hearing requires considerable advance notice, and we have a timeline to meet to close on the property. However, as stated above, you can submit written comments to the HOC Commission through April 21, and your comments will be considered when HOC conducts its final vote on the project on May 3. 33. If the project moves forward, who will we be able to contact if we have a problem or question after it is operational? After the property is open and operational, you will be encouraged to contact the project’s case manager, who will be the senior staff person on-site, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns. You could also contact HOC’s property management office if you have any concerns, and they have a hotline that is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including weekends and holidays. National Data on Effect of Supportive Housing on Neighborhood Crime RatesIn the late 1990s, the Urban Institute conducted a targeted study in Denver, Colorado, to determine the statistical effect, if any, of supportive housing facilities on neighborhood crime rates. According to the Urban Institute researchers, this study was the first empirical study on the impact of supportive housing facilities on neighborhood crime rates.[1] For the purposes of the study, researchers defined supportive housing as residential care facilities where residents receive more than twelve hours per day of on-premises treatment, supervision, custodial care or special care due to physical condition or illness, mental condition or illness, or behavioral or disciplinary problems.[2] The study found “no statistically significant evidence that the levels of reported crime rates of any category increased within any distance of a supportive housing facility after it began operating.”[3] Admittedly, this is only one study that focuses on Denver; nevertheless, it is the only known study to statistically examine the relationship between supportive housing facilities and neighborhood crime rates. Interviews with Montgomery County Supportive Housing Programs near a SchoolWe surveyed all of the transitional and permanent supportive housing projects in Montgomery County and identified six programs that are located less than one third of a mile from a school. We then interviewed the Executive Directors of five of these six projects. Of the five projects interviewed, all have been in operation for eleven years or more, with consistency in administrative personnel. All programs reported strong, active, positive, collaborative relationships with their respective nearby school(s). All programs reported that their staff members actively attend school and community meetings and that they receive widespread support from their respective communities and schools. Four of the five interviewed programs reported no crime at all by their residents, with the fifth program reporting that police get called to the project an average of only once per year for minor complaints, mostly concerning residents “annoying behavior.” |
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©2007 Housing Opportunities Commission, All Rights Reserved. Information current as of 11/27/2007. |
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