Many Mansions Opening Many Doors to the Needy

It had been written off as the city’s worst slum, a crumbling, gang-ridden blight on downtown Thousand Oaks.

But the dilapidated Shadow Hills Apartments presented an opportunity for a nonprofit group always looking for ways to bring affordable housing to this upscale town.

So with help from the city, Many Mansions Inc. bought the apartments in 1992, poured more than $1 million into renovations and evicted gang members.

Crime calls plunged by half. Families seeking affordable, safe living had a new place to consider.

And Many Mansions had made its mark as one of the city’s most effective charitable organizations.

In this affluent community of expensive houses--where the city is willing but the neighbors aren’t always so eager--the nonprofit agency has for years found creative solutions to make housing available to those near the bottom of the economic scale.

By soliciting support from some of the most influential members of the community, sidestepping political squabbles, and cobbling together funding through government grants, Many Mansions has pursued a clear but difficult goal:

Increase the availability of affordable housing in a city where the average one-bedroom apartment rents for $775 a month and a two-bedroom apartment $900.

With about 180 housing units under its management across the city and plans for new projects in Thousand Oaks and other parts of Ventura County, Many Mansions has been widely praised for its role.

“They’ve reached a point where they’re a real partner with the city in affordable housing,” said Mayor Judy Lazar. “The things that make Thousand Oaks desirable, make it expensive as well. It’s a safe city, with high property values, and a high-tech employment base. Those things can turn around and drastically affect those in the lower income sectors.

“But you don’t get anywhere if you don’t try,” Lazar added.

Dan Hardy, Many Mansions’ executive director, acknowledged that low-income housing carries a stigma with it.

“I think affordable housing is probably the most difficult of any nonprofit charitable cause because there’s so many stereotypes,” Hardy said. “The typical stereotypes are we’re housing illegals, we’re lowering property values, we’re perpetuating dependency on the welfare system.”

To counter that, Hardy says, Many Mansions has built its reputation by renovating crime-ridden apartments and evicting trouble-making tenants without hesitation. The group has also insisted on strict management and neat, attractive housing in the projects it builds.

Hardy, 32, who used to work on Skid Row housing projects in Los Angeles, points to a host of statistics in making his case for more affordable housing.

Most of those who live in Thousand Oaks properties managed by the nonprofit group have jobs. But many are service and retail jobs that pay less than $27,000 a year. Lisa Hunter, for instance, was working as an assistant at a local radio station, but the single mother of four was making too little money to rent an apartment in Thousand Oaks. So she was raising her children in a tiny storage shed on land owned by a friend, wondering if she would ever have decent housing.

She would lie awake at night when it stormed, listening to raindrops falling on the tin roof.

Eventually, Hunter worked up the courage to tell her boss about her situation. He referred her to Many Mansions, which placed her in a two-bedroom apartment she could afford.

The day she moved into the Shadow Hills Apartments nearly two years ago was a joyous one, the 34-year-old Hunter said. “We had no furniture, but we had a roof over our head--not a tin roof,” she said.

But those who turn to Many Mansions for help face a waiting list 400 names long.

And even with the rent reductions, living in Many Mansions apartments, which range from $520 to $870 a month, still takes a big chunk out of modest paychecks, Hardy said.

Supporters of Many Mansions say they have seen the effects of high rent firsthand.

Otto Stoll, the co-chairman of Many Mansions’ executive board, said his 23-year-old son, a car mechanic, lived at home for a year because he could not pay for an apartment. His son then took a job in more affordable New York state.

“You cannot afford to live in Thousand Oaks on a single income,” Stoll said.

Stoll, a retired public relations executive, is one of several community leaders enlisted for the Many Mansions’ cause. The agency’s heavyweight board of directors and advisory committee --made up of such people as Thousands Oaks attorney Charles Cohen, former Detroit Tigers Manager Sparky Anderson and Sheriff’s Cmdr. Kathy Kemp, who acts as the city’s police chief--are major assets.

“You can’t get anything done in this town without being a member of the old boy or old girl network,” Hardy said, adding that other local nonprofit groups without similar connections have foundered. “Name recognition is a huge part of success in Thousand Oaks.”

The influential board members help with fund-raising, or pick up the phone to persuade City Council members to support Many Mansions when it asks for funding, Hardy said.

But in such public settings as City Council meetings, Hardy said, he is careful not to argue with officials.

“We’re the city’s affordable housing arm,” he said. “We have to be seen in public as working with the city.”

Officials, however, say that lobbying and courtesy only go so far.

The nonprofit group has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the city, not because it has powerful backers, but because it has a history of strong management and shrewd strategies, officials say.

Ventura County Supervisor Frank Schillo, who founded Many Mansions in 1979, said the apartment complex that bears his name is one example.

The neatly kept Schillo Gardens Apartments, opened in 1988, sits in a quiet, oak-tree studded area on Los Robles Road. Picnic tables and a children’s playground enhance the serene atmosphere at the 29-unit complex.

The apartments defy the perception that affordable housing units are slums, Schillo said.

“They’re always doing something, or building something, that doesn’t look like affordable housing,” Schillo said. “You don’t want to build a ghetto, you don’t want to build a junky looking place.”

Many point to the Shadow Hills Apartments as further reason to support the nonprofit group. With the city’s help in issuing a multimillion dollar bond, Many Mansions bought the 101-unit complex on Wilbur Road, then launched an extensive renovation project and toughened tenant screening.

“They really turned it around. The situation at that apartment complex has changed drastically,” Lazar said. “They couldn’t have done it without the city, and we probably couldn’t have done it without them.”

City Councilman Andy Fox said the nonprofit group’s focus on renovating existing buildings is shrewd.

The city is nearly built out, with little room available for new development of any kind, Fox said.

Besides, he added, “I think we’ve got to be honest. Most people would prefer not to have an affordable housing project next to them.”

Fox said that in fixing rundown apartments, Many Mansions bypasses political and logistic hurdles.

“I think it addresses a number of concerns,” Fox said. “It’s already built, already zoned . . . and you’re not going to get the common resistance. It’s a better fit for the community.”

“Maybe we should focus on fixing up rundown apartment complexes,” Fox said. “Many Mansions seems poised to do that.”

In the coming months, Many Mansions plans to extend its reach in Thousand Oaks and other parts of Ventura County.

The group wants to turn the Island Village Apartments off Thousand Oaks Boulevard, which city officials say is badly rundown, into a redevelopment success story.

“We want to buy it, renovate it, and reduce the rents,” said board co-chairman Stoll.

Many Mansions also has some new projects on the drawing board.

The organization will manage the Oak Creek Senior Villas, a 60-unit senior housing complex to be built off Thousand Oaks Boulevard. That project was approved by the City Council more than a year ago.

And an 11-unit complex for homeless families in downtown is also on the drawing board. The Community House, a more than $2-million project that has received $187,000 in city funds, is to be built this year.

Moreover, the nonprofit group has plans to renovate the historic Jackson Hotel in Santa Paula, converting it into affordable housing for single renters and couples.

“I think it indicates we have some broader horizons,” Stoll said of the Santa Paula project. “We want to be viable within the entire county.”

Thousand Oaks housing services director Olav Hassel said Many Mansions will probably play an even more important role in the city’s efforts to provide affordable housing in the future.

Recent reductions in federal funds for public housing and the fact that little land here remains zoned for high-density development mean the city and nonprofit agency should work together, Hassel said.

“Many Mansions is one of the most important players on the affordable housing scene,” Hassel said, noting that funding for the group’s Community House was culled from federal, state, county and local sources.

“They did basically all that with little assistance from the city,” he said. “They have arrived.”

But not every effort ends in success.

Earlier this year, the City Council rejected a plan to build an affordable housing project similar to Schillo Gardens at a Newbury Park site after residents turned out at a meeting to oppose it. Fox said the site was not ideal for affordable housing, because it is not centrally located and not close to public transportation.

But the developer still needs to meet affordable housing requirements, and the city wants to make sure a fair price is paid to fund low-income housing somewhere. Hassel said the city is waiting for the developer to offer a contribution that might be earmarked for another Many Mansions development.

Meanwhile, people such as retiree Margaret Weber are glad to be living in the homes that Many Mansions has already built.

Weber, who lives in a neat second-floor apartment at the Schillo Gardens, moved in 10 years ago after living for a while with her children. She has no plans to leave.

“I couldn’t live this well otherwise,” she said.