San Mateo County is preparing to put nearly $24 million into the hands of nonprofits that have tangible plans to build housing opportunities for those whose incomes are struggling with the region’s high cost of living.
The Board of Supervisors Tuesday, Oct. 31 will consider a list of eight new developments and two rehabilitation projects that would collectively provide 857 affordable housing units in communities across the county.
The proposals vary with plans to house a range of people such as seniors, teachers, former foster youth, families, veterans, those with mental illness and other low-income earners. Tuesday’s vote will make $23.8 million available from local countywide sales tax revenue in the coming fiscal year to support construction or design costs of 691 units and the rehabilitation of 166 apartments, according to the county.
“We’re stretching every dollar and the demand is great; but we’re very happy with the proposal,” said Ken Cole, director of San Mateo County’s Department of Housing.
The proposed spending comes on the heels of supervisors hosting multiple meetings and lengthy discussions about how much in Measure K funds should be allocated toward housing. Voters last year approved extending the countywide half-cent sales tax that generates about $82 million annually and goes toward a broad range of programs.
Formerly known as Measure A, the sales tax revenue has previously gone toward nonprofit housing developers, but this year marks a significant increase in funding to help temper the affordability crisis.
“As far as Measure K dollars go, we’d be absolutely lost without them. Measure K provides us local leverage to take advantage of the few funding mechanisms that are out there to get housing built,” Cole said.
Constructing affordable housing projects often costs millions of dollars and is made possible by cobbling together a variety of federal, state and local funding sources. Federal tax credits are a key, albeit competitive, source for many nonprofit developers constructing low-income units.
Matt Franklin, president of the nonprofit MidPen Housing, said county funds are crucial in solving the financial puzzle.
“These funds will play a vital role in financing the creation of hundreds of units of new affordable housing for low-wage working families as well as seniors on fixed incomes,” Franklin said in an email. “The county is regularly able to leverage their investments three or four to one in accessing other vital federal and state funding. It brings significant new resources into the county so that people who work and live here can stay, even in the face of this severe housing affordability crisis.”
The need is marked by a rate of nearly 30 people applying for a single unit within two weeks of MidPen introducing availability of new housing, he said.
The list of chosen projects are in varying stages of development with some still being negotiated or in the community outreach phase, while others have almost filled their funding gaps and could break ground in the coming year, Cole said.
Staff has proposed the list of projects following a June request for proposals and Cole is pleased the spending would address what’s currently foreseen in the pipeline for the coming year.
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Staff’s proposal includes $7 million toward Bridge Housing, which was chosen by the San Mateo City Council to develop 68 units on a city-owned lot at the massive transit-oriented Bay Meadows site. About $5.8 million is recommended for Palo Alto Housing Corporation, which is creating 67 units of transit-oriented housing for very low-income individuals and homeless at-risk veterans on El Camino Real in the North Fair Oaks area. Just under $1 million could be offered toward a proposed 27-unit development in Menlo Park where a portion of the housing will be targeted to teachers and former foster youth. A proposal to build 80 apartments near the Millbrae BART station that would offer a preference for veterans could receive $1.5 million, according to the county.
The Foster-City based MidPen could receive support for four proposed developments. Allocations include $864,000 for a 120-unit apartment building known as Bay Road Family Housing in Redwood City, which will include 12 units for former foster youth. Almost $4 million would support creation of 117 affordable homes at the Bradford Senior Housing development on Redwood City-owned land. It could also receive $2.2 million to help fund the second phase of Gateway Family, which will provide 141 units in Menlo Park. Another $1 million would help predevelopment costs for MidPen’s Cypress Point, a proposed 71-unit community on an 11-acre Moss Beach site, according to the county.
Nevada Merriman, MidPen’s director of Housing Development, noted the county prioritized funding for the nonprofit’s two projects that were furthest along, while also offering assistance for its other projects in the current pipeline.
“We appreciate the thoughtful approach they’ve taken which demonstrates a commitment to their housing pipeline,” Merriman said in an email.
Ray Hodges, a Housing and Community Development specialist, said the county’s contribution is expected to bring construction closer to fruition for three developments by closing a funding gap and enabling them to apply for tax credits. The list includes MidPen’s Bradford, Bridge’s Bay Meadows and Palo Alto Corporation’s North Fair Oaks developments, he said.
Two other projects aiming to preserve existing affordable units are also slated to receive more modest Measure K funding. Eden Housing could receive $250,000 for its plans to renovate a 94-unit East Palo Alto complex by rehabbing 81 units, demolishing 13 existing units and building 49 new units. Also in East Palo Alto, HIP Housing has proposed renovating a 36-unit complex and could receive $250,000, according to the county.
The Board of Supervisors earlier this year agreed to spend up to $44 million over the next two fiscal years, but it also sought to further discuss a policy on how to spend toward preservation projects. Cole agreed it’s more cost-effective for the county to leverage its dollars on new construction that can compete for federal tax credits. Regardless, he emphasized how important it is to preserve naturally occurring affordable housing. Otherwise, he noted, more families could be displaced and the affordability gap would only widen further. He anticipated returning to the board for a discussion on preservation policy early next year.
“The demand for affordable housing is well known in the Bay Area, not just low-income families, but the middle class as well,” Cole said. “Our community is suffering from just a high demand for housing close to employment. And people are increasingly pushed out farther and farther.”
The Board of Supervisors meets 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 31 at 400 County Center, Redwood City.
(650) 344-5200 ext. 106
Twitter: @samantha_weigel
(8) comments
[scared]Vincent Vei might benefit from some additional background information…
The Mid-Pen property location is across the Montara Lighthouse behind a dangerous blind curve. The site was used by the Navy and has potential toxins that will need to be cleaned up. The Coastside had 100 plus sewer overflows since 2011 and the infrastructure is failing. Traffic is already a nightmare and the site has no walkability, no schools, no shopping, no jobs, no transit stations etc. MidPen provided a preliminary traffic study that left many factors out incl the nearby Big Wave project that was approved by the BoS (large office park equal to 1.5 Walmarts, housing for 50 disabled, and a large brewery in a tsunami flood zone - one of the top 5 in CA!!!) without the supporting infrastructure in place.
71 luxury units on such a challenging property are no less inappropriate than 71 affordable units and the very dangerous interface with Highway 1 calls into question the sincerity of County government…
See overviews below
https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/1b818a_3c61e829fa13481cb5a0706ebc991b36.pdf
https://www.resistdensity.org/hot-news
https://steveblank.com/category/california-coastal-commission/
The Mid Pen Housing Project in Moss Beach will further congest our roads and put a burden on the disadvantaged who may live there, distant from reliable transit, community services, shopping and most of all JOBS. I live in Moss Beach and it's 14 miles RT to Safeway in Half Moon Bay or Pacifica. On weekends we experience gridlock from visitors or tourists passing through on their way south to Santa Cruz or Carmel, so most of us hunker down and don't go out on weekends. And, when gas creeps back up to over $4.00 per gallon these homes will no longer seem affordable....it will be a burden to the low-income residents who live there to have to drive to distant jobs. Plus, most services such as schools and libraries are located in other towns as well. Mid Pen would be wise to redesign it for Seniors only because we do have a nearby Hospital and seniors don't tend to drive as much, so they would not contribute to the already miserable commute traffic.
I think my biggest objection is that the three towns on the MidCoast which are controlled by San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, do not even have One Community Center in Montara, Moss Beach, or El Granada, yet this complex will have it's own Community Center PAID FOR AND SUBSIDISED by the surrounding property owners, and there has been no indication that we will be allowed to use it. It could be dedicated to only residents of the affordable project. SO WRONG!
Last, besides the very poor ingress and egress to Highway One, most of these projects that are built elsewhere, are designed to have insufficient parking and residents with more cars have to overflow beyond their own community and overflow parking goes onto the side streets surrounding the complex, burdening the existing neighbors. NOT COOL, as it creates and adversarial situation.
The Coastal Act for San Mateo County was written with designated affordable housing sites in it. It was one of the conditions of approval .......In fact, the sites were given priority status under Coast Act.....The Coastal Act was also written for the specific purpose of allowing the public (Including the low income public) access to our wonderful coast........access in the broad sense of the word.....Over the many years since the approval of the Coastal Act, NONE of these affordable sites have been approved (even though there have been numerous attempts at approval) because of local opposition to them....... May I remind you again, that the California coast is for ALL Californians...... and by the way, there has already been an in-depth traffic study done for the site and traffic is a non-issue for this development.
wow, you may be reported for the last paragraph. amazing that the smj lets you espouse such hated that is obviously racist.
lol, not my opinion, just those intolerant progressives points of view. I don't like subsidized anything because it just raises the costs to everyone else and removes motivation to get ahead, maybe have only two or three children etc.
You are just as beautiful as you were in 1986, D.
Great example on how you can take a temporary emergency tax hike and then make it permanent and use it for socialized housing. Bravo to our housing director and the entire county supervisors. Hocus Pocus, temporary tax is permanent right before your very eyes.
Broken record. Taxes raised on me, raise costs on me. Every subsidy historically causes net increase to everyone else. You can't micromanage with any real predictablility. It's chaos theory.
San Mateo County .........COUNTY SIZE:.... 286,982 acres......COUNTY LANDS UNUSABLE AND OWNED BY ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS:.... 117,267 acres (Peninsula only)............So maybe the Coastal Conservancy.... the Mid-Peninsula Regional Open Space District...... and the Peninsula Open Space Trust....could DONATE a few acres for affordable housing........5...10...50 acres?..... They are actually one of the main reasons the cost of housing is so high on the Peninsula.....
Absolutely not! Bad idea - !
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