A large affordable housing project in South City is moving ahead, while another long-awaited development reverses course.
A 158-unit development on Mission Road is in the early stages of development and is part of a larger, three-building residential project totaling about 800 units. The project plans to receive significant funding from local, county and state sources, with BRIDGE, the developer, applying for a grant from the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities program, a competitive grant largely funded by proceeds from the state’s cap-and-trade program. Nell Selander, Economic and Community Development manager, said the city’s collaboration with BRIDGE through the application process is critical, given the project’s success may hinge on the grant funds. BRIDGE is requesting up to $50 million, according to a recent staff report and will find out the results by the end of the year.
AHSC grant funding could also come with heavily funded transportation projects near the site, such as bike lanes along Arroyo Drive and Camaritas Avenue, electric shuttles and free shuttle operations. The shuttle operations could potentially fund the city’s existing routes, in addition to a fourth route close to the development.
“That’s pretty exciting to think about, having a shuttle route in that location going around South City. This is a central hub,” Councilmember Mark Nagales said. “We’re maybe still a year away from really breaking ground, but once it’s up and running, it’s 158 affordable housing units. That’s a really big deal.”
The development will also be partially financed via the Local Housing Trust Fund, which was initially allocated to another affordable housing development project at 201 Baden Ave. The Baden Avenue project originally proposed 82 units across two properties, a privately owned parcel at 199 Airport Blvd. and another adjacent site owned by the city. The latter was sold to the housing developer Eden Housing but the former was not as easy to acquire, said Housing Policy Analyst Pierce Abrahamson. As part of an updated agreement, the city said it may retake the property if the development wasn’t completed by the end of last year.
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“The city and Eden initially initiated a time extension in 2022 to give more time for negotiations but unfortunately they never fully aired out … as of today, there has been no necessary approvals or entitlements obtained for the project site,” Abrahamson said, adding that Eden Housing also informed the city that the project was infeasible.
The one other affordable housing project in the city’s pipeline is Rotary Terrace on Linden Avenue, Salander said, which plans to build 81 units for senior households. The city must plan to approve 3,956 housing units between 2023-31 as part of its state-mandated Regional Housing Needs Allocation, about 35% of which must be for low-income households.
My takeaway… Basically, if projects receive subsidies from the government, they’ll move forward. So what’s that tell everyone about the cost of building affordable housing? It’s a no go for developers because they won’t make any profit. But… if their profits are paid for by taxpayers – full speed ahead. BTW, what’s the income limit to qualify for “affordable” housing? A salary less than $500,000?
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My takeaway… Basically, if projects receive subsidies from the government, they’ll move forward. So what’s that tell everyone about the cost of building affordable housing? It’s a no go for developers because they won’t make any profit. But… if their profits are paid for by taxpayers – full speed ahead. BTW, what’s the income limit to qualify for “affordable” housing? A salary less than $500,000?
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.