Community Basics Inc.

Meeting housing needs

By Leah Etling on Apr 15, 2014 in People

Lancaster, Penn., is a community in the midst of transformation. New jobs are being created, environmentally-friendly development is trending, and the city’s downtown is experiencing a creative and retail renaissance.

But affordable housing, much needed for working-class residents, seniors, is hard to come by.

Yardi client Community Basics, Inc. (CBI), has been working since 1997 to meet the need for affordable housing in Lancaster and the surrounding community. The non-profit, which provides more than 400 units of tax credit and supportive housing, has taken a creative approach to developing and managing its projects.

“We’ve developed tax credit projects which range in size from 18 units to 95 units, we manage all but one of our projects, which is outside the county. We also have been very involved with the county of Lancaster, because the commissioners are anxious to address the problem of homelessness in the county,” said Ken Smith, Executive Director. They’ve developed 47 units of supportive housing that target the homeless and mentally ill, who are provided with support services on site via non-profit partnerships.

According to Wikipedia, the per capita income for Lancaster is $13,955, and 21.2% of the population and 17.9% of families live below the poverty line. The percentage of poverty-stricken residents is twice the state’s average.

“There’s a desperate need (for affordable housing),” said Smith, who the firm’s very first employee. A recent countywide survey revealed that apartment housing and affordable apartment housing were the most-needed types of homes. New projects built by CBI fill up immediately, and typically can have 1-2 year-long waiting lists for other hopeful residents.

“After working for a commercial, for-profit developer, I like the idea of providing affordable housing to those who don’t earn as much as others do,” said Lisa Greener, CBI’s Director of Finance. “Everybody deserves a clean, safe place to live.”

To help meet the dire area housing need, Community Basics has had to get creative with the types of developments it considers.

“My desire is always to do family new construction projects first after it spun off as a private entity. They’re easier to construct, easier to maintain over the years,” Smith said. But there are challenges.

“Lancaster County is a farmland area, and there aren’t many appropriate-sized sites for the developments we are able to do within the county. When we can’t find the perfect site, we work with what’s there.”

The result of that approach has been a number of very unique community locations. Among CBI’s 9 tax credit projects and 3 supportive housing projects are family housing located in the former offices and plant of the New Holland Machine Company; affordable senior housing in a historic former chocolate factory; and communities in buildings that had previous lives as a market, a shoe warehouse, a bed and breakfast, a motel, and a mansion/carriage house.

The company is also working on several new projects, including a 60-unit tax credit family housing community proposed in Manor Township. It’s situated in proximity to more than 58,000 jobs, and would include six units designated for formerly homeless residents.

To manage their communities effectively, CBI relies on Yardi software, including Yardi Voyager for Affordable Housing, which includes all of the management requirements for Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), among many other features.

“Yardi has been an excellent tool and a big asset to us as we add on new projects,” said CBI Administrative Assistant Rachel Walsh. “Adding on 56 units at our last project, I in some ways didn’t even bat an eyelash. It just flowed so seamlessly, straight through Yardi, and it did not add a lot of work to my plate.”

Yardi commends Community Basics, Inc. on its work to house families, seniors, the homeless, and others in their community, and provide them with safe and affordable homes.