Belmont celebrates affordable housing near downtown

“It’s a magnificent site near downtown amenities along with transportation and schools,” Mayor Julia Mates said. “It’s really going to be one of the best features of our city.”

The four-story site falls into the Belmont Village Specific Plan area, which the city envisions as a future mixed-use downtown hub centered around the Caltrain station. The property had been vacant for long periods over the last 20 years and with multiple failed initiatives on the property. However, a 2018 partnership between nonprofit affordable housing provider MidPen Housing and real estate group Sares Regis, along with the city, got the project going. Construction began in August 2020. The site is within walking distance of Safeway and amenities along Ralston Avenue.

Andrew Bielak, associate director of Housing Development at MidPen, noted at an Oct. 12 preview event that improving downtown has been a city priority for a long time, and the site is in an area the state has called the highest resource, which means it is near jobs, transit and school.

“We are so excited to be part of the revitalization of the establishment and the downtown corridor,” Bielak said.

The site, called Firehouse Square, offers a variety of amenities, including a playground, green spaces, a picnic area, a community room and a day care area. MidPen President Matthew Franklin said the amenities would help residents build community, a priority mentioned by many prospective residents. The project took Spanish facade aspects of the old building and reused them in the new development, keeping several stained glass windows. The new building is in a mission-style architectural exterior design.

Bielak said affordable housing historically has often been built in areas without a lot of access to amenities, making the downtown site a needed change.

“It is really exciting to see the city of Belmont prioritize having affordable housing in locations where future residents are going to have access to so many different types of opportunities,” Bielak said.

There are 19 two-bedroom apartments ranging from 680 to 950 square feet, 18 studio apartments from 350 to 677 square feet, 17 three-bedroom units ranging from 1,000 to nearly 1,300 square feet, and 12 one-bedroom units ranging from 500 to 640 square feet, with one unit for the manager. The affordable housing will have 33 units filled by the Housing Authority of San Mateo County’s site-specific wait list. Around eight of the 33 units will have a preference for applicants with disabilities. The remaining 32 come from the MidPen wait list. About 2,000 people applied for the lottery system to live in the building, with MidPen currently in the vetting process for residents, according to the nonprofit’s staff. MidPen will recertify income yearly to ensure people can stay, with new people allowed to come in if they leave because they earn too much. There are income restrictions and rent tiers for living in the complex based on household size and 30% to 80% of the area median income. MidPen is aiming for about a third of gross income.

Mates said while it will only make a small dent in the affordable housing problem in San Mateo County, the project is an example for developments in Belmont and other cities in the area to emulate.

“It helps to get one complicated project under our belts so we can continue to build more,” Mates said.

curtis@smdailyjournal.com

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