GHURA expects 96 more affordable housing units by year's end

The Guam Housing and Urban Renewal Authority expects 96 more affordable rental housing units will be available by the end of the year, GHURA Executive Director Elizabeth Napoli said.

The 96 rental units are located within the Dos Amantes area of Dededo at Summer Vista 1, which broke ground in February 2023, she said.

Families or individuals could choose from one-, two- and three-bedroom units in 12 buildings being built at the project site, with Core Tech Development as the project contractor.

The units were built through Low Income Housing Tax Credits, and GHURA has been growing the island's affordable housing units through tax incentives.

Tax incentives are given to private developers to either renovate old housing structures or for new construction. The Internal Revenue Service allocates these tax credits annually to housing agencies such as GHURA, which administers the tax incentives through a competitive bid process.

During the housing project's groundbreaking last year, Napoli said affordable housing projects are meant to help low-income families "live in a place where the environment is conducive to raising families that are happy, healthy and will be contributing citizens to the island."

When Summer Vista 1 is completed, it will offer:

In December 2023, 64 additional housing units became available to rent for low-income families at Summer Breeze I in Radio Barrigada.

GHURA said the project was the first Low Income Housing Tax Credit project in Barrigada, and the second overall in the central region of Guam. Core Tech's also the project contractor.

Napoli said since 2005, Low Income Housing Tax Credits have helped build 1,349 units at 15 projects.

The affordable housing units that are part of GHURA assets include 750 public housing units, 49 units at Guma Trankilidat, and some 20 units at scattered sites with some subrecipient partnerships, Napoli said.

"Through its existing housing assistance programs alone, GHURA houses approximately 15,000 people," she added.

GHURA recently acquired a 21-unit Yigo housing complex, which will be fixed up and turned into affordable housing.

Napoli said in consideration of the procurement process for the rehabilitation of the units, they will be available in about a year.

She said GHURA applied for and was granted $659,000 in Emergency Rental Assistance funding from the Department of Administration needed to leverage the purchase of the Yigo apartments.

About $5.8 million in Emergency Rental Assistance remains under DOA's purview and requires submission and approval of an application for eligible affordable rental housing purposes to serve very low-income families, Napoli said.

GHURA hasn't identified any other housing units or projects to purchase with the $5.8 million in ERA funds, she said.

The executive director said once the 21-unit Yigo apartment becomes available for rent, GHURA will put out a specific application to apply for them.

GHURA has been moving to acquire more properties to add to the affordable housing inventory.

Besides the Yigo complex, a duplex and a fourplex in Agana Heights were also recently purchased by the agency.

A pot of federal Community Development Block Grant money was reprogrammed earlier this year so that GHURA could begin buying up more housing units.