COLUMBIA DOWNTOWN HOUSING CORPORATION

THE DRRA REQUIRES HRD TO PROVIDE CDHC WITH AN AMOUNT INTENDED TO BE AT LEAST $7,775,000 TO SUPPORT A LIVE-WHERE-YOU-WORK PROGRAM ("LWYW") WITHIN DOWNTOWN COLUMBIA, MD. CDHC HAS DEVELOPED A PROGRAM WHICH PROVIDES RENTAL SUBSIDIES TO EMPLOYEES WHO RENT IN DOWNTOWN COLUMBIA, MD. THE SUBSIDIES ARE EQUAL TO THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE MARKET RENT FOR THE RENTAL UNIT AND THE LIHU RENT OR THE MIHU RENT FOR THE UNIT (BASED ON THE TENANT FAMILY INCOME). CDHC HAS AN AGREEMENT WITH EACH EMPLOYER WHEREBY THE EMPLOYER SOLICITS APPLICATIONS FROM ITS EMPLOYEES AND SELECTS THE PARTICIPANTS. CDHC AND THE EMPLOYER EACH PAY ONE-HALF OF THE SUBSIDY.HOWARD COUNTY GENERAL HOSPITAL AND THE RESIDENCES AT VANTAGE POINT PARTICIPATE IN THE PROGRAM AND 5 OF THEIR EMPLOYEES INITIALLY ENROLLED IN THE PROGRAM. AN EMPLOYEE MAY PARTICIPATE FOR THREE (3) YEARS. ONE EMPLOYEE, AFTER COMPLETING 1 YEAR DID EXIT THE PROGRAM IN 2020. OF THE REMAINING 4, ONE GRADUATED IN LATE 2022 AND TWO IN EARLY 2023. THE ANTICIPATED GRADUATION OF THE ONE REMAINING EMPLOYEE AT YEAR END 2023, IS JULY 2024. IN 2023, HOWARD COUNTY MEDICAL CENTER AND CDHC AGREED TO ADD AN ADDITIONAL THREE HOSPITAL EMPLOYEES TO THE PROGRAM AND TO SHARE THE RENTAL SUBSIDY COSTS 50/50. CDHC APPROVED AN ADDITIONAL $142,000 IN FUNDING TO SUPPORT THESE THREE EMPLOYEES. OUTREACH TO THE EMPLOYEES BEGAN IN DECEMBER 2023 AND EMPLOYEE SELECTION AND LEASING IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN IN 2024. AN EMPLOYEE MAY PARTICIPATE FOR THREE (3) YEARS. IN JUNE 2022, CDHC PARTNERED WITH THE COUNTY THROUGH ITS DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT (DHCD) TO OPEN AND OPERATE A LIVE WHERE YOU WORK- AMERICAN RESCUE PROGRAM ( THE "ARP PROGRAM") FOR UP TO THREE YEARS. CDHC ALLOCATED $500,000 TO THE ARP PROGRAM WHICH IS BEING MATCHED BY THE COUNTY WITH ITS ARP FUNDS. UNDER THE ARP PROGRAM THE ARP FUNDS ARE BEING SUBSTITUTED FOR THE EMPLOYER'S SHARE OF THE RENTAL SUBSIDY THEREBY OPENING UP THE PROGRAM TO MORE EMPLOYEES. PARTICIPATING ARP PROGRAM EMPLOYERS SIGN AN MOU WITH CDHC AND PERFORM ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTIONS AS DESCRIBED IN THE MOU, WHICH ARE SIMILAR TO THOSE PERFORMED BY EMPLOYERS IN THE ORIGINAL LWYW PROGRAM. ANY EMPLOYER WHO CHOOSES TO CONTINUE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE LWYW PROGRAM AFTER THE ARP PROGRAM ENDS WILL BE REQUIRED TO PAY THE EMPLOYER MATCH ON BEHALF OF ITS EMPLOYEES. ADDING TO THE 3 LEASED EMPLOYEES FROM 2022, 7 ADDITIONAL EMPLOYEES SIGNED LEASES IN 2023, WHILE ONE EMPLOYEE FROM 2022 OPTED OUT AFTER COMPLETING ONE YEAR, BRINGING THE TOTAL PARTICIPANTS AT YEAR END 2023 TO 9. A REPLACEMENT EMPLOYEE SELECTED IN LATE 2023, SUBSEQUENTLY SIGNED A LEASE IN JANUARY OF 2024. THE EMPLOYEES WORK FOR SIX DIFFERENT EMPLOYERS. WE EXPECT THE CURRENT PARTICIPANTS TO FULLY UTILIZE THE LWYW-ARP PROGRAM FUNDING OVER THEIR 3 YEARS OF PARTICIPATION.

CDHC WORKS WITH THE COUNTY ADMINISTRATION (THE "COUNTY"), THE HOWARD RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION ("HRD"), AND HOWARD COUNTY HOUSING COMMISSION (THE "COMMISSION") TO IMPLEMENT THE VARIOUS OBJECTIVES FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN DOWNTOWN COLUMBIA, MARYLAND. THESE FOUR PARTIES, CDHC, HRD, THE COMMISSION, AND THE COUNTY, ENTERED INTO A LONG-TERM PARTNERSHIP WRITTEN AGREEMENT TITLED "AGREEMENT FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING DOWNTOWN COLUMBIA" ( 4-PARTY AGREEMENT) ON FEBRUARY 3, 2017, WHICH IS TO BE READ IN CONFORMITY WITH THE DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES AGREEMENT ("DRRA") EXECUTED BY THE COUNTY AND HRD ON THAT SAME DATE. IN 2023, HRD CONTINUED TO OFFER LEASES IN MARLOW IN THE MERRIWEATHER DISTRICT. MARLOW INCLUDES 15 VERY-LOW INCOME UNITS (VLIUS) AND 15 MIDDLE INCOME UNITS (MIUS). JUNIPER HAS 12 VLIUS AND 12 MIUS, BRINGING THE TOTAL NUMBER OF INCLUSIONARY UNITS IN THE MERRIWEATHER DISTRICT TO 54. THE MARLOW AND JUNIPER UNITS ARE STABLE IN THEIR LEASE AND OCCUPANCY, DEMONSTRATING THE NEED FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN THE DESIRABLE AND EXPENSIVE COMMUNITY OF MERRIWEATHER DISTRICT. FURTHER, SIX OF THE VLIUS IN MARLOW ARE UNDER CONVERSION TO BE ACCESSIBLE. IN 2023, CDHC AGREED TO PROVIDE $300,000 TO REIMBURSE THE COMMISSION FOR THE COSTS OF THESE ACCESSIBLITY IMPROVEMENTS WHEN THE WORK IS COMPLETED IN 2024. UNDER THE DRRA, CDHC SHALL USE ITS COMMERCIAL FEE REVENUE TO ASSIST THE COMMISSION IN COVERING THE UTILITY COSTS FOR THE VLIUS. IN 2023, CDHC CONTINUED TO ASSIST IN COVERING THE UTILITY COSTS FOR THE VLIUS AT MARLOW AS WELL AS AT JUNIPER.