Rebecca Barnes, project manager, MidPen Housing Corporation; MidPen President and CEO Matt Franklin; San Mateo Councilmember Rich Hedges; Kathy Kleinbaum, San Mateo assistant city manager; San Mateo Mayor Amourence Lee; and Christina Horrisberger, San Mateo Community Development director, at a walk-through tour of Kiku Crossing in San Mateo.
San Mateo’s Kiku Crossing affordable housing development is almost fully occupied, with 93% of families moved in.
About 209 have already moved in.
“The goal is to move in the remaining 15 or 16 households by next week, so it’s been a lot of effort the last few weeks,” Mollie Naber, director of Housing Development at MidPen Housing, said.
The 225-unit fully affordable development at the corner of South Claremont Street and Fourth Avenue downtown was completed earlier this year and more than 6,500 applications were received for the units.
“It is demonstrative of the huge demand in this county for affordable rental housing for families, and we need to keep building affordable rental housing in great locations in downtown San Mateo because it is so sorely needed,” Naber said.
About one-third gave preference for those currently living or working in San Mateo and about 20 units showed preference for those experiencing homelessness, displacement or those with disabilities. Some units also had preferences for public employees at the city, state or federal level — as well as transition-age foster youth.
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The income ranges varied from around 30% to 80% of the area median income. The median income in San Mateo County for a family of four is $186,600.
“It’s a really diverse affordable housing community both in terms of the population served and the income range,” Naber said.
The lending landscape for development hasn’t been favorable in some ways but Naber said the nonprofit is sometimes shielded from macroeconomic challenges due to public financing and the high demand. Building fully affordable developments typically necessitates numerous funding sources and can take years to build. But demand is still high, and the supply landscape was further set back when a fire broke out on the construction site of a fully affordable housing project in Redwood City earlier this year.
“In our experience as a nonprofit developer, because the need is so great, the financing comes through even when in the moment it may look uncertain. There has always been a path forward,” she said.
The nonprofit is also developing a fully affordable development in Daly City which will comprise over 500 units throughout several phases. Kiku Crossing is the largest single-phase 100% affordable development the organization has built, Naber said.
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