Simi Supports Low-Cost Condos With $700,000 Loan

Looking to increase its stock of affordable housing, the Simi Valley City Council on Monday agreed to lend $700,000 to a Los Angeles County builder for a housing tract that will include 31 low-cost condominiums.

The council voted 5 to 0 to lend the developer a portion of a federal grant the city received to help replace buildings lost during the Jan. 17 earthquake.

Griffin Industries plans to build the condos, selling for about $125,000, for low-income buyers as part of a complex of 122 condos and 398 houses at the corner of Los Angeles Avenue and Madera Road.

The city plans to relay the $700,000 in Community Development Block Grant money from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to Griffin Industries in October, as soon as the city planners complete an environmental assessment on the project.

The project hit a snag last spring, when Griffin Vice President Richard Niec told city officials he could not afford to postpone construction for the environmental study.

But HUD refused to commit earthquake money to the project without it and Niec eventually agreed to give the city time to do the study so the project could move forward.

The agreement approved Monday by the City Council requires Griffin to start building within two years. Griffin then must repay the loan, which is secured by a 4.39-acre parcel of land in Thousand Oaks owned by Paul and Gloria Griffin--at an annual 6% interest rate by September, 1999.