CEO of affordable housing nonprofit cherishes beating the odds

EAH Housing CEO Mary Murtagh

In an industry in which five out of every six projects never get off the ground, Mary Murtagh still loves her job and can laugh about it.

“Affordable housing is Murphy’s Law incarnate,” says Ms. Murtagh, who has been with the affordable housing organization EAH Housing for over twenty five years. “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”

Mary Murtagh on the balcony of one of EAH’s affordable apartments.

 

As its president and CEO, Ms. Murtagh is the force behind EAH, which has built or renovated nearly 1,400 units of housing in the North Bay, and over 5,000 total in 12 counties and two states- California and Hawaii during her tenure with the San Rafael-based nonprofit. The agency is Marin County’s largest affordable builder, and second-largest in the North Bay to Burbank Housing.

The nonprofit EAH used to be known as Ecumenical Association for Housing, owing to its faith-based roots. The company employs about 350 people, the majority of whom work in Marin County.

Ms. Murtagh grew up in rural New Hampshire, near Dartmouth College. She’s a self-described former hippie, who now loves to build infill developments that are good for the environment. She has an undergraduate degree in art history and philosophy from Wellesley College in Massachusetts, and a master’s in architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Those degrees, she said, did not prepare her for what she would encounter at a job with the Los Angeles Redevelopment Agency where she grew interested in real estate development – specifically finance.

“Up until then you can kind of picture me as a totally naive rube wandering around with my mouth open,” she said. “The first time I went to New York though, I thought the whole thing was a terrible mistake and a terrible thing to do to the planet. And when I finally started studying real estate finance, it suddenly all became clear … I started to understand the city and urban economics.”

In Los Angeles, Ms. Murtagh became what she says was the translator between the real estate office at the Redevelopment Agency and the Office of Housing and Urban Development in Washington. And when the first grant she ever wrote – to expand a Pep Boys in inner city Los Angeles – was funded, Ms. Murtagh said she felt like she was empowered to effect change.

Ms. Murtagh moved to San Francisco in 1984 and worked for a political consulting and market research company. While there she helped orchestrate the approvals for the renovation of the Arlington Hotel, a residence for recovering alcoholics still viewed as a model development in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district.

In 1986, she was hired to direct EAH, an affordable housing organization that at that time was licking its wounds from two money-losing projects and considering getting out of the building business altogether.

EAH Housing CEO Mary Murtagh celebrates the opening of the largest affordable housing solar installation in the nation.

“Obviously, that was a serious issue but I said to them, ‘If you don’t want to build anything, don’t hire me. That would be a mistake for both of us because I love to build things,'” she said. “The smell of sawdust is what makes my day. That and curing concrete.”

Ms. Murtagh set out to make her first big project at the head of the organization a success. She negotiated for two acres on Corte Madera Creek and you can hear the pride in her voice today when she talks about it.

She said 760 people applied for residency in the 28-unit development that turned out “beautifully.”

“Opponents compared it to the Exxon Valdez during the hearings,” she laughs. “And I was getting my feet wet and finding out what opposition meant in Marin County.”

Setbacks are a fact of life when it comes to building almost any kind of housing, including affordable units.

“You have five deals fall through for every one that ever sticks. Maybe more,” she says. “I don’t try and think about that ratio. It’s too discouraging.”

She said in her over 20 years with EAH, affordable housing hasn’t gotten any easier. Getting the approvals is still just as difficult. Opposition is as vocal, if not more. Funding is hard to coordinate and unexpected things change.

CEO Mary Murtagh accepts an award on behalf of EAH Housing.

And just when she says she feels like she’s “trying to sweep the ocean back with a broom,” something encouraging will happen, like the passage Proposition 1C, which opened up $2.9 billion for affordable housing.

Ms. Murtagh said her future attention will be on continuing to strive for a permanent state funding source and more partnerships with private developers.

Marin Supervisors approve plan to enable more affordable housing

This article originally appeared in the Marin IJ.

Mackey Terrace in Novato, by EAH Housing is an example of local-serving affordable housing for seniors.

Marin County supervisors’ approval of the new housing element reflects a forthright answer to one of Marin’s most pressing problems — the lack of affordable housing.
The ramification of the imbalance of local jobs and housing for local jobholders can be seen every weekday on Highway 101. The high cost of housing — and home values and rents are rising — has forced local workers into longer commutes, both in time and distance.
The board’s approval of a seven-year plan to build 378 housing units, most of them affordable, is a sign that the county is prepared to address the imbalance. The political challenge is to make sure the sites detailed in the plan are appropriate and that projects are well-designed and the right size for the setting.

A man voices his opinion at a Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday on the county housing plan. (Frankie Frost — Marin Independent Journal)

It is no surprise that Corte Madera’s 180-unit so-called WinCup apartment complex has been mentioned frequently during county hearings as the kind of development Marin residents don’t want to see. Marin planning has typically favored low-profile, less dense development.
Even the Association of Bay Area Governments, the state-created regional body that sets city and county housing quotas, has pinpointed WinCup as a poor example of local compliance with state housing plans.
Still, Marin has a regional responsibility to do its fair share to meet growing demand for housing.
Approval of the county housing element is an important step in meeting that responsibility.
The county has also agreed with the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development that it will do more to provide housing opportunities to protected classes, among them people now priced out of Marin.
That settlement and the county’s state housing quotas were not going to change, whether Supervisor Susan Adams voted for the housing plan or whether the supervisors waited until her successor Damon Connolly was seated in January.
Connolly, it should be noted, has been the supervisor-elect since June and has, rightfully, had months to show leadership on this issue. He has kept a low profile. If he had problems with the 378-unit plan, he should have said something.
Supervisor Steve Kinsey, at Tuesday’s hearing, said “every single project” will be tested by exhaustive public review. Connolly will have a role during that review.
In past years, construction of the number of units detailed in city and county housing plans have fallen far short of the approved numbers. Often, the economics don’t work out for the builder, especially in Marin where the high cost of real estate raises pre-development costs and the need to build more units on that acreage.
Worries that the state is eroding local control over planning decisions are valid. Too many developer-friendly changes have been approved by the Legislature with little awareness of their possible ramifications beyond Sacramento. Our lawmakers and county leaders need to do a much better job of promoting local political awareness about such changes.
But those changes do not exempt Marin from good planning and finding potential sites for building much-needed affordable housing.
Critics of proposed housing plans are quick to draw a line of staunch opposition, without providing concrete alternatives. Much of their criticism has been pointed at design and densities, not necessarily numbers.
Supervisors have promised that design and environmental considerations won’t be short-cut.
Their approval of the new housing plan meets one important commitment. They should keep their promise that plans will be submitted to “exhaustive” public review.

How EAH housing helped one woman reduce her commute by 90 minutes

Moving to Centertown affordable apartments by EAH Housing reduced Anelyn's commute to a 2 minute walk.

Anelyn Gallego, a mother of four grown children, emigrated from the Philippines when she was 15 years old and has since lived in the Bay Area for over 35 years. She currently lives at San Clemente Place, an affordable apartment complex in Corte Madera managed by EAH Housing, with one of her daughters.
Anelyn works for the California Highway Patrol (CHP) in Corte Madera as an office assistant, and her daughter is a preschool teacher in Novato. Anelyn’s current commute is a two-minute walk to the CHP office down the street.
But Anelyn’s commute wasn’t always so short. Until last fall she was living in Fairfield in Solano County and her commute into Marin would sometimes take three hours round-trip. To avoid the worst of the traffic, she would often take evening organ lessons at her church in Novato, returning home at a much later hour.
When the long commutes became unbearable, Anelyn started looking for a home closer to her job with the CHP. She spent a great deal of time looking for an apartment she could afford in Corte Madera with no success.
“This is a very affluent area; I never thought I would be able to afford to live here.”
She then applied for an apartment at San Clemente Place and was accepted. “I am so grateful to be able to live here. The Lord answered my prayers, giving us an affordable, quiet and safe place to live.”
Moving to San Clemente Place has also drastically reduced her carbon footprint.
“The best thing about living here is being close to my job. I’m just two doors down the street and I can walk to work. I don’t have to pay for gas much anymore, because I walk everywhere. I’m walking distance from the supermarket, my gym, restaurants; everything is convenient.”
But she does understand that there are many more like her who need an affordable place to live near their job. “It would be really nice if there were more affordable homes here so people don’t have to drive so far.”

EAH Housing announces Shelter Hill is going green

Affordable housing is going green as solar retrofitting and other efficient technologies are being utilized in the refurbishing of a complex in Mill Valley. Shelter Hill, a 75-unit housing complex in Mill Valley managed by EAH Housing, is going solar starting this month. The solar installation will provide predictable energy bills and reduce the utility costs paid by the residents each month.
The complex, which hosts four four-bedroom, 40 three-bedroom and 27 two-bedroom apartments, also includes a community room with a kitchen, a computer learning center and outdoor play areas for kids.
Of the 275 to 300 residents who call Shelter Hills home, many are lower income or living on fixed incomes. Reducing the ever rising energy costs will provide a welcome reduction of out of pocketing heating, cooling and electrical costs, EAH officials said.
Built in 1975 and in need of a redo both aesthetically and to bring the property up to modern standards, the planned greening of the complex was something EAH was very interested in.
“It is a mission of our company. We want to make the units green as we can as well as the common areas as it benefits everybody,” EAH project manager Dave Egan said.
The upgrades will include a new solar electricity system, which will be installed by Berkeley’s Sun Light & Power. It is made up of 138 Trina 280W solar modules on the roofs of the buildings.
The cost of green rehab pays for itself in utility savings while reducing energy usage by 25 percent for the entire property. Each unit will be installed with hydronic heating and cooling systems, energy efficient double glazed windows, low flow water usage toilets and new refrigerators.
Sun Light & Power has installed solar electricity as well as solar hot water systems at other EAH Housing communities. The company recently completed its largest affordable housing solar installation Crescent Park in Richmond.
“Shelter Hill was a property built in the mid 1970s in southern Marin. It has been operating as affordable housing ever since. Now it is time to refresh the property to bring it up to modern standard,” Egan said.
The property will also be getting other upgrades as part of the redo which will consist of the installation of energy efficient appliances, high-efficiency water heaters, dual-pane windows, water-saving fixtures and native-plant landscaping. Over half of EAH properties have been retrofitted with green technologies and the other half have received energy use audits.

This article originally appeared in the Mill Valley Herald.

For Richer or for Poorer?

Shelter Hill, managed by EAH Housing provides affordable housing for families in Marin County.

In wealthy Marin, opposition to low-income housing is high and so are the numbers of the county’s poor, aged and disabled who need it most. This article originally appeared in the North Bay Bohemian.

Kathleen Burkland prays the Rosary, has a master’s degree in psychology and, before arthritis forced her to quit, earned her living as a counselor for at risk teens.

A year ago, she was also homeless.

The 61-year-old grandmother wears a dark blazer and white pendant when I enter her studio apartment in Novato’s Next Key transitional housing on a recent Thursday. Straight, neatly combed gray hair falls to her shoulders. She leans heavily on a cane—the result of six knee surgeries—as she leads me to a table by a window overlooking the green fields and clear morning skies of idyllic Marin.

Now enrolled in a Ph.D. program that will allow her to teach online, Burkland says the stigma of transience kept her from sharing her situation when she was shelter-bound—especially in one of the wealthiest census tracts in the United States.

“I could never really say where I was when I was [in the shelter],” she says, resting her right hand on the cane. “It was humiliating—all these people have wonderful places to live and all this money, and I would think, ‘God, I

don’t want anybody to know I’m homeless.'”

Burkland may seem like an unlikely candidate for homelessness, but in Marin, she’s not. She’s over 50 and physically disabled; according to the county’s 2011 homelessness survey, she fits right in. “We’ve noticed that the homeless population is aging,” says Paul Fordham, deputy director for the county’s main network of shelters, Homeward Bound. He references the fact that roughly one-fourth of the total homeless population (287 of 1,220) was over 51 in last year’s count, and offers several explanations.

“Anecdotally, I can say that a lot of things catch up with folks later in life: PTSD from the military, putting aside an amount for retirement that then isn’t enough, disabilities. And then market-rate housing is so high.”

It’s not just high; for renters, Marin tops the list of the least affordable markets in the United States, according to

an annual study by the National Low Income Housing Coalition. And while the median county rent of $1,523 shouldn’t be a problem for the median county household earning $89,268, other residents, such as seniors and the disabled, are struggling with one of life’s most basic necessities: where to live.

With no available options, Kathleen Burkland lived in a homeless shelter before finally moving up the wait list for a low-income studio apartment in Novato. In some communities, this is where low-income housing would come into play, but for a variety of reasons—land use restrictions, zoning policies and neighborhood opposition among them— Marin is lacking in below-market-rate units. According to a Novato-based advocacy group, this has forced 60 percent of the local

workforce to live outside the county. But the shortage is also affecting Marin’s disproportionately large population of seniors— 21.2 percent over 62, compared to 14.2 percent California-wide— many of whom live on fixed incomes and struggle with age-based disabilities.

And the numbers say it’s a big shortage. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) considers a one-person household “low-income” in Marin at $62,200, meaning that below that householders will have to pay more than 30 percent of their income on rent. An American Community Survey (ACS) from 2006-2010 examining age and ratio of income to the poverty level indicates that over half of Marin’s residents over 65 fall into this bracket. According to a housing inventory released by the county in 2008, Marin is home to only 1,032 low-income units designated for seniors and 196 units for people with disabilities, a rough ratio of just one unit rented per 17 who qualify.

Of course, many aging adults may not want or even need subsidized housing. Some live in homes bought and paid off years ago. But wait lists tell another story.

Few senior developments listed in the county roster have any openings at all. None are available in the

subsidized complexes provided by the county housing authority, which, as of early 2012, had a cumulative wait

list approximately 2,000 strong. Wait lists often range several years and, according to a 2011 county inventory, at least 18 complexes accepting seniors have closed them entirely. For the Maria Freitas Senior Housing in San Rafael, this closure means the complex can’t guarantee even one spot within the next five years.

Burkland attests to the damning power of wait lists. As her arthritis worsened, full-time work in an emotionally and physically draining job became impossible. After her partner’s death in 2008, she moved in with her daughter in Novato. Living primarily on Social Security Disability by then, she couldn’t afford a market-rate apartment. Being over 55 and disabled, she could have qualified for a subsidized studio or one-bedroom. But she couldn’t find one to rent, and her daughter eventually moved.

“All the senior and disabled places were filled, and there was something like a two-year waiting list,” she recalls.

She could have stretched her income further if she wasn’t paying off her car, but knowing how precarious her situation was, she held on to it. “I didn’t want to lose my car, because, especially if you’re homeless, your car means so much to you,” she says. Without a place to live, she entered the shelter.

Mental illness, PTSD, alcohol and drug abuse play a role in Marin’s older transient community, as in any other. Burkland acknowledges this, but also says she was surprised by how many “normal” people she’s met in the shelter system. “There are more people homeless that you would call your neighbors than just ‘those lazy druggies and alcoholics,'” she says.

Now an advocate for affordable housing herself, Burkland points to the region’s larger, systemic issues when speaking about her situation.

“Marin is just . . . ” She pauses. “It supports the people who have money.”

On the most basic level, Marin’s shortage of low-income housing and its expensive market-rate units can both be tied to the county’s lack of developable land.

But that’s not the whole story.

A report completed by the county for HUD—the Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice, or AI—states: “Traditionally the County resisted urban sprawl and preserved open space, which has helped push housing prices higher since few subdivisions have been built in the area since 1930.” Between agriculture, parks and open space, the document estimates that only 16 percent of the county’s total mass is suitable for building, mostly spanning the 101 corridor, and 11 percent has already been developed.

And while parts of Marin have tried to remain forest-encircled hamlets, the county’s location across the Golden Gate from San Francisco has given it something of an identity crisis. Though towns like Novato, Ross and Corte Madera look suburban, Marin is considered “metropolitan” by the state department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), meaning it’s supposed to zone land for multi-family housing at a higher density than counties like Sonoma or Napa. So when it comes time to update their cities’ housing elements—part of the general plan that zones land for population growth— local officials say they’re often frustrated. As Novato mayor Denise Athas puts it, “We throw up our hands and go, ‘Where?'”

This process is governed by state Housing Element Law, enacted in 1969, which recognizes that although development generally belongs to the private market, land-use and zoning patterns can get in its way. The law includes Code § 65589.5, an “Anti-NIMBY Statute,” and instructs local governments to create housing opportunities for all economic segments of the community.

But that doesn’t always happen. In 1998, Marin Family Action filed a lawsuit against Corte Madera, charging that its housing element didn’t adequately plan for low-income units.

“Opposition to development goes way back here,” says Mary Murtagh, who since 1986 has served as executive director of EAH Housing, a low-income housing development and management nonprofit founded in Marin.

Affordable family housing built by EAH Housing.

Murtagh likens the county’s slow-growth tendencies and desire to preserve small-town character with other regions across the Bay Area. But the nonprofit director articulates another layer of opposition to affordable housing: fear of who might come with it.

“In general, Americans think poverty is a character flaw,” she says.

City hall dialogue in Novato between 2010-11 uncovered virulent assumptions about the type of person who might apply to rent low-income housing. As the city tried to update its housing element, public comment exploded with characterizations of low-income residents as criminals, gang members, sex offenders and “high-maintenance individuals” who would decimate police resources and shuffle under-performing students into public schools. Existing affordable complexes were said to be “riddled with meth dealers and coke dealers and weed and everything else,” ghettoizing a town that “used to be a nice place to live.” (Meanwhile, statistics from 2010 show that violent crime was roughly half of what it was in the early 1990s.) One woman concluded that, while cities risk litigation by failing to update their housing elements, she “would rather see the lawsuit.”

Community Action Napa Valley may have made the connection it needs to keep the struggling Meals on Wheels program afloat.

Last month, CANV Executive Director Drene Johnson announced that the senior meal program was sinking about $10,000 in debt per month, forcing it, for the first time, to put a cap on the number of people it feeds.

CANV has created a partnership with Rohlffs Manor, a senior facility in west Napa built by EAH housing, that it hopes will develop into the saving grace of Meals on Wheels.

Rolff's Manor senior housing by EAH housing

Beginning Nov. 1, CANV will take over the meal service at the senior living apartments. A lean staff hired by CANV, along with students from the nonprofit’s culinary training school, will prepare meals and offer catering services.

Though Meals on Wheels food will still be prepared by local catering company Suppertime, Johnson said she hopes that the Rohlffs kitchen can eventually take on Meals on Wheels preparation.

Doing so would bring down the cost of the more than 400 meals delivered daily to Napa County seniors, according to CANV. Because CANV is a nonprofit, it can purchase food from Napa’s food bank. Additionally, it can maximize resources through volunteers.

Meals on Wheels fell on hard times this year when its budget was cut by the federal government. The real pain came in the summer when the Napa County jail alerted CANV it could no longer prepare meals for the seniors.

Because of prison realignment that has sent lower-level offenders back on the street and more serious offenders to county jails, the jail is struggling to find inmates who can be trusted in a kitchen environment.

Meals on Wheels, which had been paying $2.54 per meal at the jail, turned to Suppertime, which charges $3.25 per plate, not including milk. Once the cost of milk is added, each meal cost $1 more.

If CANV is able to start preparing the meals itself in the Rohlffs kitchen, Johnson said, the cost can be brought back down and hopefully bring the nonprofit out of the red.

Rohlffs serves about 100 meals daily to apartment residents as well as walk-ins, all of whom will be fed by CANV. The nonprofit does not anticipate raising prices for Rohlffs residents, but walk-ins, who make up the majority of diners, may see an increase in price, Johnson said.

CANV’s goal will be to move all the residents who eat at the Rohlffs cafe on to a debit card meal plan system.

“We’re really excited about the opportunity to work with them,” said a spokesman from Rohlffs Manor management company EAH, who declined to be named.

The spokesman said EAH liked the fact that CANV will incorporate its culinary school into the food service, as well as CANV’s plan to partner with Meals on Wheels.

EAH works with Meals on Wheels at other EAH properties in Northern California, the representative said

The five employees who work in the Rohlffs kitchen have been given notice, Johnson said. On Nov. 1, CANV will bring in a staff of one full-time chef and a part-time worker, as well as volunteers. Johnson is also gearing up to volunteer.

“We have some of our former culinary students who are volunteering, as a way to pay us back,” Johnson said.

The nonprofit offers food preparation and pastry courses to down-and-out clients. The classes, which prepare students for jobs in the hospitality industry, are offered free of charge.

Since CANV announced a month ago that it was struggling financially, Johnson said, a number of generous donors have come forward to lend support.

Bill Leigon, president of Reata Winery, is hoping to have a fundraiser for Meals on Wheels in December. The Gasser Foundation, which made an undisclosed donation, “came through in a very big way,” Johnson said.

“There have been a lot of little donations,” Johnson said, adding that every little bit helps. “People sending in $5, $10, $20. People are concerned. They know Meals is for everybody.”

“We’re grateful for the response and we’re still continuing to serve and deliver and keep plugging along,” she added. “We’re still here. Thank you for the support.”

This article originally appeared in the Napa Valley Register.

Drake's Way first affordable development to be LEED certified in Marin

Drake's Way in Larkspur, CA, an affordable apartment complex built by EAH housing.

On May 4th, 2011, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) officially designated Drake's Way with the prestigious Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Homes Silver certification; making Drake's Way the first affordable housing community in Marin County to be LEED certified.

Since it first opened, Drake's Way has been a model of sustainability. The property's central location in Marin County facilitates a car-free lifestyle by allowing residents to live within walking distance of retail centers, a grocery store, and office buildings as well as public transportation and bicycle routes. Located in Larkspur, CA the property offers sweeping views of Mt. Tamalpais and the San Francisco Bay. To help preserve the natural beauty of the property's surroundings, EAH Housing donated nearly half of their parcel to the city of Larkspur to be used as an undeveloped hiking and wildlife area.

Encircled by fields of native wildflowers, Drake's Way is landscaped entirely with drought resistant plants and was built with 80 percent recycled construction materials. The community room, computer lab, and management offices at Drake's Way are 100% Solar powered and the entire property features some of the latest designs in energy efficiency for water heaters, insulation, ducts, and other building components.

Drake's Way provides homes for low income working families who would otherwise not be able to afford housing in Marin County's high-end real estate market. Like many other EAH Housing properties, Drake's Way allows people to live close to their jobs, avoid lengthy commutes, and spend more time with their families, all while creating a net benefit for the environment.

EAH Housing recently launched the Building Sustainable Communities Initiative (BSCI), a company wide effort to "green" the entire EAH portfolio. 30 properties have already received green upgrades and the rest of the EAH portfolio will undergo similar renovations in the coming years.

LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system that judges the overall environmental impact of a property by evaluating criteria such as energy savings, water efficiency, carbon dioxide emissions, and stewardship of natural resources. The prestigious LEED designation is considered to be one of the most stringent rating systems for green building. LEED criteria are set and evaluated publically by the approximately 20,000 member organizations that make up the USGBC.