KTGY Group Honored with Gold Nugget Award

SANTA ANA, CA - KTGY Group, Inc., Irvine, Calif., was honored with a Gold Nugget award from the Pacific Coast Builders Conference (PCBC®) for design work on three new Craftsman-style Habitat for Humanity homes recently completed in Yorba Linda.

KTGY received the Building Industry Community Spirit Award's "Grand Award," which recognizes various philanthropic efforts made by the building community on behalf of the less fortunate.

"Congratulations to KTGY Group for winning a 2010 Gold Nugget for their design work on our three new homes in Yorba Linda," said Mark Korando, senior vice president, Habitat for Humanity of Orange County. "With these home designs, KTGY has proven that simple, decent, affordable homes can also be an attractive addition to any neighborhood."

"The sustainable design maximizes available square footage on a small infill site to create attractive, very livable, comfortable homes that are affordable for working families and in harmony with the surrounding market rate neighborhood," said KTGY's Jill Williams, AIA and principal. "The project uses Habitat for Humanity's new 'Mixed-Income Model,' which includes homes for both very low-income and moderate-income families within the same development."

The award was presented to KTGY at the 47th Annual PCBC® Conference on June 10, 2010, at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco.

Habitat for Humanity of Orange County, headquartered in Santa Ana, CA, is dedicated to ending substandard housing and building strong communities in Orange County. Habitat uses non-government donations of funding, materials, professional services and volunteer labor to build simple, decent homes which are sold to qualified low-income families for a 1% down payment, closing costs, and a long-term mortgage. Mortgage payments are recycled to build more Habitat homes. Habitat families contribute 500 hours of "sweat equity" to the program by building their own home, helping another Habitat family build a home, or working in some other area of the Habitat organization. Habitat for Humanity families and volunteers have built 146 homes in Orange County since 1988, and are currently building 18 homes in San Juan Capistrano and five homes in Fullerton.

Habitat for Humanity of Orange County is an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International, an ecumenical Christian housing ministry that welcomes to its work all people dedicated to the cause of eliminating poverty housing. Since its founding in 1976, Habitat International has built more than 350,000 houses worldwide, providing simple, decent and affordable shelter for more than 1.75 million people. Habitat for Humanity International is currently the 8th largest homebuilder in the United States, according to Builder OnLine magazine.

Habitat for Humanity of Orange County completed a three-home development on a vacant lot at the northwest corner of Park Ave and Yorba Linda Boulevard in the City of Yorba Linda. This development introduced Habitat OC's new "mixed income model." Using this model, homes were marketed to families with incomes within the following two levels: Two homes marketed to buyers earning up to 120% of the area median income ($100,900 for a family of four), and One home marketed to a local family earning 50% of the area median income ($46,500 for a family of four).

The size and design of the homes are consistent with the surrounding Yorba Linda community. Homes are two-stories with three bedrooms and either 1-1/2 or 2-1/2 baths. All include attached two-car garages, front porches and stone veneer accents to ensure these homes are attractive and appropriate for the City of Yorba Linda.