Members of the San Carlos City Council, housing developers and local leaders celebrate the groundbreaking of a 33-unit affordable housing development on Cherry Street. From left, Vanessa Rodriguez, head of Community Lending and Investment Commercial Real Estate for Wells Fargo; councilmembers Neil Layton, John Dugan and Pranita Venkatesh; Linda Mandolini, chief executive office of Eden Housing; Kate Comfort Harr, executive director of HIP Housing; Mayor Sara McDowell; U.S. Rep. Kevin Mullin, D-South San Francisco; former Councilmember Ron Collins; and Cheryl O’Connor, vice chair of the Eden Housing Board of Directors.
Fifteen years after plans were initially made, housing developers have finally broken ground on a 100% affordable housing development in San Carlos, celebrating on the small plot that will become home to 33 low-income families downtown.
Estimated to be completed by the end of 2026, Cherry Street Commons will provide one-, two- and three-bedroom units to households earning between 30% and 60% of the county’s area median income. Nonprofits Eden Housing and HIP Housing are working collaboratively on the development.
The ceremonial groundbreaking on the 0.32-acre lot was celebrated on Wednesday by developers, city officials and financial investors who spoke to the need for affordable housing, advocated for funding assistance programs at the state and federal level, and reflected on the long timeline of developing housing.
“The creation of affordable housing is arduous, it’s expensive and it’s stressful, they are held to the highest standards and the strict requirements,” Kate Comfort Harr, executive director of HIP Housing, said. “We had it all for this project and it still took 15 years.”
The development is the first family-oriented, 100% affordable housing development in the city, Mayor Sara McDowell said, noting that multiple bedrooms are less common in affordable units.
Cherry Street Commons will provide nine two-bedroom units and nine three-bedroom units, optimal for growing families, she said. The site’s location downtown, which is currently the focus of a major upgrade to become more pedestrian centric, also allows for children to grow up in a safe community-oriented environment, the mayor said.
“With affordable rent, these families can enjoy the gift of time, with one another, at the dinner table in the evenings,” McDowell said. “What a gift, and our community is better for it.”
To foster a well-balanced community, everyone needs to have access to housing they can afford, Comfort Harr said.
“In San Mateo County, we’re proud to have an abundance of high-paid, high-skilled workers, but to maintain a great quality of life for everyone, we also need a wonderful mix of service workers, and educators, and librarians and postal workers, of bank tellers, of cashiers, hair stylist and mechanics,” Comfort Harr said
Recommended for you
The development is estimated to cost $42.1 million, and $12.8 million comes from the city’s affordable housing fund, which McDowell said is “one of the largest investments in affordable housing in the history of our city.”
The long road taken to get to groundbreaking is in large part due to financing. To address the growing housing throughout the country, local partners need financing help from state and federal agencies, Linda Madnolini, chief executive officer for Eden Housing, said.
In attendance to celebrate the groundbreaking was U.S. Rep. Kevin Mullin, D-South San Francisco, who is advocating for expanded tax credit programs for affordable housing development. While Mullin said he will remain a committed advocate at the state level, he is proud of the work done by the local partners on Cherry Street Commons.
“It is proof of what can be done when local organizations like HIP and nonprofits like Eden and cities unite to meet the essential needs of our community,” Mullin said. “Days like today give me hope and make me feel like we are all in this together doing the right thing for communities.”
On behalf of state Sen. Josh Becker, D-Menlo Park, district representative Alex Koabayshi spoke to the importance of such developments and Becker’s efforts to promote development in the area.
“Without projects like this, the Peninsula is going to stagnate,” Kobayashi said. “Without the work of organizations like Eden and HIP to produce and preserve affordable housing, we are going to lose integral contributors to our economy, and more importantly contributors to our community.”
The development is a major progress toward San Carlos’ regional house allocation needs requirements, providing 33 new homes to the city’s inventory.
“I can’t wait for it to be finished and see it full of families putting down roots in our city of good living,” McDowell said.
My takeaway - for a developer to develop affordable housing, they’ll need at least a 30% taxpayer subsidy for the project to pencil out. So why aren’t more cities offering subsidies to developers? Oh right, it may use taxpayer money to subsidize housing instead of for paying ever increasing raises, pensions, and benefits. Meanwhile, in another article regarding a 25-acre life science campus in San Carlos, no word of any subsidies. Seems commercial buildings can be built without taxpayer subsidies. What’s that say about the cost of building housing?
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.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(1) comment
My takeaway - for a developer to develop affordable housing, they’ll need at least a 30% taxpayer subsidy for the project to pencil out. So why aren’t more cities offering subsidies to developers? Oh right, it may use taxpayer money to subsidize housing instead of for paying ever increasing raises, pensions, and benefits. Meanwhile, in another article regarding a 25-acre life science campus in San Carlos, no word of any subsidies. Seems commercial buildings can be built without taxpayer subsidies. What’s that say about the cost of building housing?
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
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.