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11 The Woodlands The Woodlands,30 miles north of Houston and one of the country’s more successful master-planned communities,today has more than 25,000 residen- tial units,including single-family homes in a wide range of prices and architectural styles (78 percent); townhomes and condominiums (almost 6 percent); and rental apartments (16 percent). A variety of pro- grams have been employed at the Woodlands to provide affordable housing choices for families and seniors,including HUD Section 8,FHA 235 for-sale housing and tax credit programs for rental apartments. To date,more than 1,000 assisted housing units have been developed. Affordable housing choices for employees and customers have supported extensive office and commercial development in the Woodlands,where more than 34,000 permanent jobs have been created since 1974. Companies seekingnew corporate locations show a preference for communities in which employees at all levels in their organizations can benefit from a good living environment near their work locations. Affordable housing for seniors has encouraged ex- tended families to reunite in the community,thus strengthening the community through the grandparent- child relationship. The remaining ten to 15 years of development in the Woodlands will benefit from the early commitment to mixed-income housing opportunities.22 Profileopers—have been involved in more than 80 HOPE VI revitaliza- tion projects in 48 different cities. The redevelopment of First Ward Place offers valuable insight into the mixed-finance process. One of the first housing proj- ects built with HOPE VI funding, First Ward Place is a 406-unit, mixed-income community located on 27 acres adjacent to down- town Charlotte, North Carolina. The development includes 283 units of low- to moderate-income rental housing; 68 housing units for seniors; and 55 for-sale homes available to market-rate and low-income households. NationsBank (now Bank of Amer- ica) served as a development partner with the Charlotte Housing Authority (CHA). To subsidize the low-income units, NationsBank acquired approximately $10 million in low-income housing tax credits. Rather than collect a devel- opment fee, NationsBank agreed to receive half of the net operating income. The $41.7 million HOPE VI grant helped to finance part of the devel- opment costs of the project and the program and administrative costs of CHA. CHA has remained the landowner and the improvements are owned by First Ward Place LLC (of which Nations- Bank and CHA are members).19 Public/private collaborations in the development of large-scale, mixed- income housing projects allow part- ners to share and cultivate their areas of expertise. Such partnerships pro- vide access to conventional financing as well as to municipal, state, or feder- al funds in the form of grants, tax credits, or other incentives. Nonprofit organizations and public agencies may also be eligible for sup- port from mission-driven foundations committed to affordable housing and community development.20 A variety of programs have been employed at the Woodlands to provide an assortment of housing choices for families and seniors, and to produce more than 1,000 affordable housing units. The Lennar townhomes are affordably priced, starting from the low $100,000s, making them a popular choice for first-time buyers or retirees. TH E W O O D L A N D S O P E R A T I N G C O M P A N Y , L . P .