Ironwood Affordable Housing Phases I & II

The purpose of the Guam Housing and Urban Renewal Authority (GHURA) is to “… promote the health, safety and welfare of Guam’s people by the elimination of slum and blight conditions, by the orderly redevelopment and renewal of communities, by proper planning of community development and by provision of safe, decent and sanitary dwellings for low to moderate-income families…” The GHURA allocates funding from The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program which provides credits to owners of qualifying buildings and projects that meet certain low-income occupancy rent restrictions.

With the belief that every family, despite size and income level, deserves a secure and comfortable home, Ironwood Properties sought to identify and design the features necessary to make each building both unique and compliant with all GHURA standards to be accepted by the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program.

Coffman provided multidiscipline engineering services to design the two affordable housing complexes in Mong Mong, Guam. The communities were completed in two phases, with a combined total of 138 units for low-income families that possess modern, sustainable features like LED lighting, solar power and multiple other Energy Star energy saving elements.

Coffman performed the mechanical, plumbing, electrical and fire protection engineering design services for both developments, as well as structural design for the first phase complex. The combined construction value of the two complexes is $27 million, and the phases were completed in 2019 and 2021.

Phase I entails a six building, 50-unit low-income housing development. One building is a community center with a roof mounted photovoltaic system. The unit buildings have roof mounted solar hot water systems with separate hot water tanks. Housing consists of two- and three-bedroom units that are each air conditioned with a variable refrigerant flow (VRF), multi-mini, split unit design. A generator system provides power for the fire sprinkler system and the community center.

For Phase II of this affordable housing community, Coffman provided mechanical, electrical, plumbing, structural, and fire protection design services for an additional 88 units. Phase II added 82,715 sf consisting of 10 one-bedroom, 68 two-bedroom and 10 three-bedroom units within the six buildings. Five of the units are ADA compliant. Each building has a roof mounted photovoltaic system. The second phase also featured a roof mounted solar hot water system with a separate hot water tank located at each dwelling unit. The units are air conditioned with VRF multi-mini split unit design.

Photo Credit: Pacific Rim Constructors