San Carlos pushes affordable housing proposal forward

“I’m thrilled that we’re taking the next step forward to building up affordable housing in San Carlos. It wasn’t without some difficult decisions ... but I’m really pleased to see this project moving forward,” Councilmember Sara McDowell said during Monday’s council meeting.

Cherry Street Commons, the name of the limited partnership between the two nonprofits, plans to build 33 units on a 17,000-square-foot site owned by the city. The site is made up of three parcels, one at 1244 Cherry St., consisting of a six-unit affording housing structure; the second at 1232 Cherry St., which consists of a vacant office; and a third made up by an alley and three parking stalls.

The city used eminent domain and paid $3.075 million to acquire the parcel at 1232 Cherry St. The on-site office structure and the remaining housing units will have to be demolished to make way for the new project, which has yet to be proposed or approved.

When the time comes, residents currently living in the housing units will be offered relocation assistance and will also receive priority consideration for units in the new structure once complete, said Mike Rogers, an affordable housing consultant working with the city and Cherry Street Commons on the project, and HIP Housing Executive Director Kate Comfort Harr.

Adam Aronson, the city’s Economic Development and Housing manager, said they expect units to serve low-income earners earning below 60% of area median income or about $78,000 annually and below, according to figures from the state’s Housing and Urban Development.

The units will be deed restricted as affordable in perpetuity, a regulation recently added to the city’s affordable housing ordinance. Typically, Comfort Harr said, affordable units are deed restricted as affordable for around 55 years. The units at 1244 Cherry St. were similarly deed restricted but that window expired in 2020, which she said could have been risky for the city had they been partnering with a for-profit commercial developer.

Councilmember John Dugan lauded the city’s moves to retain affordable units and argued more jurisdictions should follow suit, given the region’s housing crisis.

“We’re proud of that and we’re trying to tell folks about it,” Dugan said. “I think every city should do that. There’s no reason those ordinances should be burning off in 45 years. I’m confident there will still be a housing problem on the Peninsula 45 years from now.”

The project is expected to cost about $43 million in total, Rogers estimated. Comfort Harr said fully affordable-housing developments are typically more expensive to build but the city’s donation will go a long way toward cutting down costs and streamlining the development.

Adding to the cost and timeline of the plans is the required undergrounding of utilities, Aronson said. The application to conduct that work is currently under review with that portion of the project expected to begin in June.

Additional reviews by councilmembers, the Planning and Transportation Commission and other bodies will be done over the rest of the year and construction on the units is expected to begin late 2024.

“It’s a great step forward for some more affordable housing in the community,” Mayor Adam Rak said. “I hope there are more projects like this in the future.”