Call to order October 2nd, 2025, the government operations committee let us stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Approval of a minutes for September 4th, 2025.

Is there a motion?

Second.

Member Semchak.

Second by Councilmember Russell.

All those in favor.

Motion carries three zero.

There is one item on our agenda for this afternoon, and that is an NPDU fun recipient update.

This item would presented by CJ Tyree from Taft Mills Group.

Hi.

It's kind of reflects how South Street and Patrick intersect um kind of by Rita's and the schools there.

And is symbolic of where our project is.

Yes, that's it.

Thank you.

So I'll not spend a ton of time on that.

But this is a drone picture with renderings of the buildings showing the location on West South Street facing west.

And that's I I actually took some pictures today that hopefully they can circulate to you guys.

We weren't able to get them loaded up here.

But one of the things that was exciting to us about this project is as you come into the city on West South Street.

This really becomes kind of the gateway to the city.

This is one of the most visible things you'll see coming into the city.

And so we were very careful and deliberate about how this building looked.

We spent a lot of time with several different architects and several planners and people trying to get the color pellet right, the design elements right, so that this is an impressive view as you come into the city.

And again, if you've been by there recently, you can feel that happening on the what is the right side of the road and the left side getting there now as well.

Again, I don't have the pictures, but the the closest corner to us on the bottom right of this picture, they just in the last few days got that fourth story up.

So you can start to feel now what the height of that building will be on the right side of the street as well.

Um again, I think everybody knows 179 units uh and all affordable to households at or below 60 percent of area median income.

Again, I think everybody here is very familiar with the location, but we were very excited about uh the ability to be walkable to downtown uh right adjacent to Baker Park and some of the other parks in the immediate area, and again the name the junction, we it's about the roads, but it's also about kind of the joining of the Golden Mile in downtown and some of the BAR parks right around the site.

Um just to talk a little bit about how long it takes to pull together a project like this.

Um it was March of 2021 that we signed the original contract to buy the piece of land.

Um we started working with Maryland CDA in October of 2021.

Um, and it took two and a half years to get to closing from that date.

Um, and we were here and looked that up actually in May of 2024 is when we got the approval here for the um MPDU funds and the tax abatement.

Uh and and really just want to emphasize you know, we we closed about two months after that.

If we didn't have success at that meeting, we probably still wouldn't be closed.

Uh you know, we uh the the gap financing, that's what we call it on a 70 million dollar project.

That last two million is what makes or breaks a project like this.

Um it literally isn't feasible without that last gap piece.

Um again, just want to really say we appreciate the support the city provided uh and we think it's a great asset to the city as well, both in terms of what I was talking about with the gateway to the city, but also providing the affordable housing there.

Um just talking about a little bit more about where we are and where we're going.

The picture here is a drone picture from April of 25, so about five months ago.

Um, and so it's looks a little different, but you can the similar view to what that uh rendering on the first slide was um where you start to see the construction coming up on the left side, the hole dug in the ground on the right side today.

That left side building is done basically on the exterior, and the right side building, like I said, we're getting to the fourth floor now for framing.

Um, and you can see kind of behind us beyond the project is the um the terraces, I think they call it the uh 300 unit market rate project that is also under construction.

I think they started about a year after us, so they're coming along as well.

But uh again, the combination of our project and their project, I think really redefines this part of town.

Um CJ, the January 20, is that 26 and August 26th?

Oh, sorry, yes.

Okay, so we're going backwards in time.

Yeah, not going back in time.

Um wrong years there, yeah.

But this month uh we are ready to start taking applications for the 524 building, the building on the left.

Um we expect it to be done in January.

We're hoping actually to hit December, but January is the projected uh delivery date.

So we are setting up a temporary leasing office where our construction office is.

We're gonna have the website up probably in about two weeks.

Uh we'll start taking applications probably by the end of this month.

So for people looking particularly for that 524 building to be able to move in this you know, January, February, March, um, the time is now in terms of taking applications.

Um the big building uh we're projecting August, hopefully it's July of 2026 for completion.

Um then just depends on pace of lease up.

We you know, our kind of outside date is April of 2026.

We actually think it'll go a little bit faster than that.

Uh because as we're leasing the first building, we can still take applications for the second building.

Um so when it comes online in July or August, we expect to start moving people into it right away.

Um so that's uh where we are with the project uh from a timeline perspective.

Um happy to answer any questions you guys have about it.

Any questions for CJ Tarvee?

Yes, um curious what if the rents will be.

Yes, so uh you know, we are working on those.

We believe um we will have a range based on where you are in the building.

Most of our units are very similar, but there are some that have every one of these units has a den.

Some have bigger dens than others, some of them have dens with windows, some of them don't have windows on the dens.

Some, you know, on the fourth floor are gonna have amazing views.

The first floor is gonna have lesser views.

So to answer your question, we are working on the final numbers, but they are fairly consistent with what we where we were a year and a half ago, which is a one-bedroom somewhere in the mid-1500s, 1550 to 1575, a two-bedroom in the low 1800s, and a three-bedroom around 2100, again, low 2100s.

Um again, one of the things we survey as we do that is where are the other affordable projects in the market.

Uh so when you talk about four percent LITE tech projects, uh the Fred is out toward the Golden Mile, about two miles west of us.

Their rents are at or above those rents.

Um, and that's about a 10-year-old 4% project.

Oxfire, which is the old um Goodwill building on the east side of downtown, those rents are at or above our rents.

Um the South Street project that just completed uh those rents on they have a mix of a nine percent and four percent, but their four percent projects, sixty percent rents are at or above those rents as well.

So uh in terms of comparable four percent affordable projects, our rents are consistent with or lower than the existing uh four percent lie tech projects.

Any other questions?

Yeah, that still seems high to me.

I mean uh uh a a one-bedroom apartment at $1,500.

Wow.

No wonder people can't afford to live here.

How many square footage is that?

Uh again, there's some variation, but I'm gonna tell you that between 700 to maybe 780 uh square feet.

Um again, every one of our units does have a den.

Some are smaller that are more for just like a desk, and some are larger that could be used uh almost as a I say bedroom.

They don't have a closet, they don't have a window necessarily, but um maybe as a nursery.

Uh so there is uh some features here that are different than a typical one bedroom.

Um again, relative we're very sensitive to rent as well, obviously.

Um relative to other projects, like I said, both on the affordable side and the market rate side for our location, our construction type.

We have you know structured parking, um, the amenities we have in the building, the finishes we have in the building.

We think comparable market rate rents are about 25 to 30 percent higher than these.

Uh and again, we're consistent with other affordable rents uh in the market.

I mean, I I'm not even gonna get into that.

So there's there's a lot of construction going on in this area.

What is being done to protect the kids going to and from schools right there?

I I'm not sure um if there's anything specific that we're doing.

I can tell you that on the streetscape on South Street, we are putting in some curves that I think will be traffic homing.

We have a crosswalk um kind of trying to think if I can describe it here, in between our buildings that crosses across between the two.

So there will be some things on the South Street side that we're doing relative to the streetscape and the side wider sidewalks and curves that come out to create street parking and the crosswalks we're doing that I think that will control traffic in the immediate area of our site.

That's that's great to hear that stuff is being done for the future.

I actually remember you mentioning that in the past, so I appreciated it then.

I appreciate it now.

Um I'm talking more about during construction.

Oh sorry.

I know that when we're out there, we have traffic control when we have equipment out there.

So like today they were unloading lumber, and so they had big trucks bringing lumber in and foreclosed taking it off, and they had guys out there, you know, um directing traffic.

They had a their own vehicle with lights on the top to kind of make sure everybody could see them.

So again, relative to us bringing supplies or equipment in and out of the site, we do have um people and trucks that we you know were flashing lights to try to manage traffic around our uh materials.

We generally are not blocking the roads.

Um we're doing loading and unloading is happening.

I'm worried about the sidewalks, not the roads.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Uh again, I don't think we're impacting sidewalks.

We're keeping everything contained within our site on on this uh on the South Street side.

Um I guess those sidewalks are closed on the sides that um are adjacent to our projects as we're under construction here.

So there are sidewalks open on the same side of the street, the whole way to the school building.

So uh on our 511 building on the right, that sidewalk is blocked in front of our building, but the sidewalk on the opposite side is open, and then as you get to our second building, the sidewalk in front of the building is closed, but the sidewalk on the opposite side is open.

So students going to students who walk to the school have to cross South Street in a place that maybe doesn't have great traffic control to go to school because of a closed sidewalk.

So they can't walk the whole way on the one side because the sidewalk is closed, so they have to go over to the other side, which puts you at a place that's inconvenient and uncomfortable to cross at um unless you're unless you've put a crosswalk there already.

Again, my concern is there are this isn't this is a city school.

Kids walk schools uh, kids walk to those schools.

What are we doing to make sure that they're safe?

Yeah, I'm not familiar with the walking patterns.

I know that the Patrick side um we're not impacting sidewalks at all.

I know that you know the street behind us, we're not impacting sidewalks.

So I don't know how many people you know walk down South Street or have to walk down South Street and can't you know loop around a Patrick, but um just for the safety of where our construction is, we need to have the sidewalks closed.

It wouldn't be you know safe to have people walking down those sidewalks.

No, I understand that and completely appreciate that.

Again, my concern is for the school-aged children who are walking, and their school-aged children, they're not gonna loop an extra block, they're gonna cross at an unsafe space.

And I just think that whenever you are when you are actually doing construction, part of your job is to ensure safety of those who might be in the area, and in this case, there are two schools right there.

Um if you wouldn't mind just looking into it, I'd appreciate it.

Yeah, I'll I'll look into that.

Um I know we are eventually putting a crosswalk in there.

Maybe uh yeah, I can talk to the city and see if maybe it makes sense to put that in earlier.

Um and see if anybody has ideas of how to manage it where we need to have the sidewalks closed for safety, if there's a way to manage um the pedestrian traffic there.

Oh, there are ways to manage pedestrian traffic.

But yes, I would absolutely appreciate you talking to city staff.

Thank you.

Thank you for that.

Any other questions for CJ Tyre?

Thank you for your presentation today.

We look forward to this project being completed.

Thank you.

And possibly the rents being lowered.

Anytime anybody wants a tour, let me know.

Oh, thanks.

Thank you.

Is there any public comment on this item?

Any closing comments from my colleagues?

We are adjourned.

Thank you.