Lucky Few Draw to a Full House

When John Drake’s name was called as the first buyer for a new home in a tract of 15 affordably priced houses, he jumped from his seat, whooped a big “Yes!” and gave his wife, Shirley, a high-five.

“Wow!” Drake said. “Fantastic!”

The Drakes were among 40 names of hopeful home buyers tossed into a spinning canister Saturday for the lottery-style drawing, held on the Bushard Street construction site of the housing development.

Only 15 names were selected for the one- and two-story houses in the Centre Park development, the city’s first gated single-family home tract designed for buyers with moderate incomes. Those who didn’t make the cut were placed on a backup list of interested buyers, in case those selected change their minds.

The Drakes, who now own a three-bedroom, 36-year-old house in Huntington Beach and wanted a home with more room for their three young sons, were the first names to be drawn by Mayor George B. Scott.

Being first meant they got to select the two-story, four-bedroom home with a three-car garage they wanted.

“We had to be mentally prepared to get nothing, otherwise you set yourself up for disappointment,” said John Drake, 46, an aerospace engineer. “But this is just wonderful, a brand-new house.”

Carl and Linda Gooch, who live in a small townhouse in Stanton, also had their first pick as the second names drawn. They also chose a two-story, four-bedroom model.

“I can’t believe it,” Linda Gooch, 33, said as she cried for joy. After learning of their win, Gooch used her cellular phone to call her husband, who was at home tending to their sick 2-year-old son, Jimmy.

“I’m just so happy we got our first choice,” she told her husband, a computer programmer, as her daughter, Christina, 4, tugged at her mother’s legs and also exclaimed, “I’m so happy!”

Gooch’s mother, Norma Parrish of Fountain Valley, cradled her daughter’s infant son, Timmy, and cried too. “It’s an answer to a prayer,” Parrish said, “Because they needed a house so badly.”

The project, developed by the Olson Co. of Seal Beach, is being built on a 3-acre site on Bushard, north of Garfield Avenue.

To be eligible for the homes, family earnings could not exceed the county’s median income of $73,550 for a family of four. The homes are priced at about $250,000 for the one-story model and $260,000 for the two-story. Buyers will be able to move into their new homes in early August.

Buyers will also receive $30,000 in city redevelopment agency assistance, which in effect lowers the selling price. For the first 10 years, buyers will get the money interest-free, and in subsequent years of the mortgage they will pay 3% interest.

Mark Buckland, Olson Co. president, said that the project, the second affordable-housing project the company has built in the city, helps to provide housing opportunities to moderate-income earners, who in many cases can’t afford a new home. For the Centre Park project, 100 families had prequalified to buy the homes, Buckland said.

As names continued to be drawn Saturday, every new home buyer said they were ecstatic to be among the lucky few chosen.

Ines Stehula, 75, who lives around the corner from the new homes, was all smiles after her name was plucked from the canister.

“I’ve watched these being built since day 1,” Stehula said. “I’ve been here a dozen times,” she said, to size up which home she would want to live in.