Dougherty County, GA

MASTER PLANNED NARRATIVE

The Southlake Village Master Planned Community Albany, Dougherty County, GA
The Bridges at Southlake (55 TH units)/The Landing at Southlake (40 HFOP units)/The Cove at Southlake (38 Attached SF Duplex Homes)

INTRODUCTION The Southlake Village Master Planned Community consists of three phases of affordable housing development, located in the South Albany Redevelopment Area. The first phase, The Bridges at Southlake, was awarded Low Income Housing Tax Credits by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) in 2007 and consists of 55 Town Homes units targeting families. The project is located on the 400 N. Block of Ebony Lane, construction is completed and the development is currently in the lease-up phase. The second phase, The Landing at Southlake, was awarded Low Income Housing Tax Credits by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) in 2008 and will consist of 40 units of Housing for Older Person. The project will be located on the 400 S. Block of Ebony Lane and construction is anticipated to start in late May 2009. The proposed third phase, The Cove at Southlake, will be located on the 400 North and South Block of Hickory Lane and is just south of The Landing at Southlake. The development will consist of 38 Attached Single Family Duplex Homes on approximately 5.2 acres of land. Vantage Development will submitting an application in May 2009 requesting Low Income Housing Tax Credits from DCA for The Cove at Southlake. The entire Southlake Village Master Planned Community will consist of approximately 11.3 acres, in which, The Bridges and The Landing will be developed on approximately 8 acres and The Cove will be developed on approximately 5.2 acres. The entire Southlake Village Master Planned Community will make use of existing roadways, utilities and city services, such as bus services and garbage pick-up. The development, construction and management will be the responsibility of Vantage Development and its related construction (Fyffe Construction) and Vantage Management entities. All three phases will have separate financing and operational structures and be governed under separate Partnerships. THE COVE AT SOUTHLAKE CURRENT USE OF SUBJECT PROPERTY AND MARKET The subject site consists of vacant land and is an infill location amongst a mostly developed area. The current zoning is R-3 Single Family Residential. As noted above, the property is located on both the north and south side of the 400 block of Hickory Lane. The north side is currently owned by the City of Albany and the south property is owned by Summer Properties, LLC. The surrounding neighborhood consists of single-family homes and residential subdivisions with home prices ranging from around $50,000 to low $100s. The property has good access to major thoroughfares in the area, including West Oakridge Drive to the North, Martin Luther King Drive to the east and South Madison Street to the west. Community amenities are located within close proximity to the Southlake village master planned community. DEVELOPMENT AND UNIT AMENITIES The Cove at Southlake will consist of 38 attached single family duplex homes with a unit mix of 29 three-bedroom homes, and 9 fourbedroom homes. The unit mix may change depending on the recommendations by a professional market analysis. The proposed development will meet or exceed the Mandatory Design Criteria set forth by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs in the 2009 QAP. All units will be designed to meet state and federal accessibility and fair housing requirements, and will be adaptable to meet the needs of persons with disabilities, 5% of the units will be designed for mobility disabled, as well as 2% provided for tenants with sensory impaired disabilities.. Each unit will have 2 bathrooms, microwave, built in dishwasher, washer/dryer hookups, carpeting, mini blinds, energy efficient refrigerator and self cleaning oven with cook top. All three-bedroom units will be approximately 1,358 square feet, and all four-bedroom units will be approximately 1,526 square feet. Approximate square footage includes porches and storage on both one and two bedroom units. Site amenities will include a playground, community building with exterior covered porch and pavilion with picnic area/BBQ facilities. The club house will include an equipped exercise room, computer center, the required laundry facilities and management office. All buildings will be one or two story, slab on grade and wood-frame construction. The exterior of the units will be brick and cementious fiber siding, with pitched, 30-year shingle roofs. The buildings will have thermal broken insulated windows and insulated exterior doors. The grounds will be fully landscaped, emphasizing low-maintenance plants, and sod will be planted around all buildings. All Fair Housing and accessibility standards required by the regulations regarding the use of any targeted funds will be met or exceeded. The estimated development budget of The Cove at Southlake will be approximately $7.2 million.

Dougherty County, GA
AFFORDABILITY Rents and incomes will be set across income ranges, as follows: At least 20% of units will have rents affordable to those at 50% of area median income (AMI), with income restrictions at or below 50% AMI; 80% of units will have rents affordable to those at 60% of AMI, with income restriction at or below 60% AMI.

PROPOSED SUPPORTIVE SERVICES Vantage Management will coordinate several types of services, including home ownership counseling and financial planning.

NEIGHBORHOOD IMPACT OF THE COVE AT SOUTHLAKE The Cove at Southlake will positively impact the surrounding neighborhood and the value of the assets contained therein. The proposed development will supply safe, attractive, well-located affordable housing to 38 families who will, in turn, become part of the community and help stabilize the surrounding neighborhood. These families will have a chance to become long term residents of the neighborhood due to the affordable rents. IMPACT OF THE SOUTHLAKE VILLAGE MASTER PLANNED COMMUNITY The Southlake Village Master Planned Community was created out of the belief that the all three phases would compliment each other: All house styles and construction will be compatible in order to create a neighborhood feel. The three developments fit together to form a continuum of residences that follow the life cycle needs of our tenants. We hope that we will be able to create programs that will pair the elderly residents of the Landing with the younger residents of the Bridges and the Cove so that both will benefit from the association, thus reviving the pattern of community that many of us remember from our own childhoods where youths assist the elderly and, in turn, learn the valuable lessons that our older citizens can teach. Having the three developments together will also ensure that we are able to hold the block against those who would build poor quality housing, high traffic commercial businesses or even industrial/manufacturing enterprises, thus lowering the quality of life of our tenants ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE SOUTHLAKE VILLAGE MASTER PLANNED COMMUNITY This Southlake Village Master Planned Community will also have a positive impact on the state and local economy. The anticipated Total Development Cost will be over $21 million and will employ many workers, require the purchase of large amounts of material and will be ongoing for a period of at least two years. One of the best ways to help the economy out of its current slump is to use funds from government programs, such as the LHITC/HOME program, that are going to be spent regardless, to provide jobs and purchase goods and services. Our concept does this while helping a large number of families and meeting the same affordability and ownership standards of other concepts. All things being equal, we try to assist the local areas economy by hiring local subcontractors and individual workers and using local suppliers whenever possible. All non-local workers we bring in will also help the local economy because such workers will purchase hotel rooms, food, gasoline and local services. Along with employment opportunities, the economic impact to the county will consist of revenue from property taxes, estimated at $135,000 -$165,000 per year, from local utilities, and land development fees, such as impact, tap, and permitting fees. These revenue streams will assist the county in its development of community infrastructure and educational system.