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A proposal to bring 100 affordable apartments to Mountain View’s North Bayshore tech park got a big boost Tuesday, after the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors agreed to provide $19 million in funding.
If approved by the Mountain View City Council later this year, the project on La Avenida Street would be the first affordable housing complex north of Santa Clara to benefit from the county’s $950 million Measure A bond. It would also be one of the first housing projects in North Bayshore, which was rezoned in 2017 in order to transform the area into a mixed-use neighborhood.
The nonprofit developer, Eden Housing, is seeking to replace office buildings with a four-story apartment building at 1100 La Avenida St., with an eye toward housing the homeless and very low-income families. The largest portion of the units, 34 in total, will be set aside for permanent supportive housing for the homeless, with county support services available on-site for the tenants.
The remaining units will be available to families making well below the Area Median Income (AMI), which is currently $131,400 for a family of four. Thirty-three of the units would be available for families making up to 30% of the AMI, with 19 units and 14 units for households earning up to 50% and 60% of the AMI, respectively.
Eden originally bought the 1-acre property intending to create a more family-oriented housing project focused on two- and three-bedroom apartments, said Susie Criscimagna, Eden’s director of real estate development. But after talking with city staff, Criscimagna said it was clear that the vision for North Bayshore favored studios and one-bedroom apartments tailored for Mountain View workers to improve the jobs-housing balance.
The mix of units is also exactly the kind of project that Measure A, passed in 2016, was designed to fund, said Wayne Chen, the city’s assistant community development director. The money is largely earmarked for extremely low-income families and people who are either homeless or recently housed, and maximizing the investment with mostly studios and one-bedroom apartments.
The La Avenida Apartments project is among one of seven projects in the “fifth cohort” of projects to receive Measure A funding, totaling more than $400 million in funding committed from the $950 million bond. Even with the latest batch of projects, it remains the only one north of Santa Clara.
Asked about the dearth of North County projects, county Supervisor Joe Simitian said part of the reason is that not every community is enthusiastic about building the apartments that Measure A was intended to create: very low-income households and permanent supportive housing for the homeless.
“On the one hand I’ve got people asking, ‘Can we get some fair share of the funding?,’ and on the other hand folks having, frankly, mixed views about whether they want to accommodate housing in that particular community,” Simitian said. “I’m proud that Mountain View wants to step up.”
In a statement shortly after the vote, Simitian praised the project for making progress in the county’s mission to house needy residents struggling to live in the area.
“We’re focused on the most vulnerable residents of our County — folks who face a particularly difficult challenge in high-cost cities in my district,” he said.
Financing affordable housing projects takes numerous sources, including loans, tax credits and funding from multiple public agencies. In addition to the $19 million from the county, Eden is requesting an additional $15 million from the city of Mountain View, which will be decided by the council later this year.
The total cost of the project is expected to be just over $78 million, which includes the $12.2 million to buy the land. That breaks down to about $765,000 per unit — roughly equivalent to other affordable housing projects and not far from the cost of market-rate units in the area, said Linda Mandolini, president of Eden Housing. She said the high price is the result of a highly constrained labor market, prevailing wage requirements and high design standards.
Though the land was bought at more than $12 million an acre, Mandolini said she counts Eden lucky for picking up the property when it was up for sale, before redevelopment in North Bayshore rapidly escalates the cost of property in the area.
“Buying land in Mountain View or anywhere in the North County area in Santa Clara is extremely competitive and very challenging, so we are quite fortunate to get the property,” she said.
As the project progresses, Eden will be working with county staff to provide ongoing services including case management for the tenants in the apartment. Criscimagna said she expects that three full-time staff members will be on-site to assist residents once the project is complete.
Though North Bayshore has been rezoned to allow up to 9,850 new homes, much of the ambitious development has yet to formally come before the City Council. In 2018, the council approved the first of the projects, a 635-unit apartment complex on Pear Avenue, potentially making the La Avenida Apartments project the second.
Many of the residential services envisioned for North Bayshore are still to come, meaning the proposed apartment project will be far from amenities like grocery stores, at least initially. Chen said the city is exploring ways to ensure the project is linked to transit and health services until North Bayshore is redeveloped into an urban center.
No wonder houses in the park stopped selling recently. Good job Democrats.
You just killed another viable community.
Here is a crazy idea. If it costs 800k why don’t you put an 800k condo or townhouse there? Maybe charge a little more and even make a profit! Welcome to America!
Do you really think people paying 3650 a month per unit want to live next to the homeless? It isn’t just homeowners taking the hit. The rental units will be affected too.
Why don’t we put this homeless development next to Simitan’s house? Who I just voted for by the way. Good way of messing with the people who gave you a job.
In response to Bubba yousaid:
“No wonder houses in the park stopped selling recently. Good job Democrats.”
They stopped because the prices were already dropping in the area, and the sellers cannot get the money they want out of the deal. That has nothing to do with this situation. Why try to make it look like it a a “democratic” problem, it is a Housing Problem, and the current economic meltdown isn’t helping, which is caused by a global viral pandemic You your conclusion that:
“You just killed another viable community.”
What proof do you have that the community died because if political action. The odds are the community is going to “die” because of the viral pandemic, and money cannot solve it. You said:
“Here is a crazy idea. If it costs 800k why don’t you put an 800k condo or townhouse there? Maybe charge a little more and even make a profit! Welcome to America!”
America allows us a choice, and sometimes because the PRIVATE sector REFUSES to PROVIDE any AFFORDABLE housing, someone will find an opportunity and fill the need. That is the FREE market working. If the PRIVATE sector wanted to, it could make this housing and make a profit. Just not as much as they DICTATE to the Cities to develop. WHY NOT THE PRIVATE SECTOR SHOW US HOW EFFICIENT AND PROFITABLY IT IS EVEN WITH AFFORDABLE HOUSING? You said:
“Do you really think people paying 3650 a month per unit want to live next to the homeless? It isn’t just homeowners taking the hit. The rental units will be affected too.”
If the home apprasials are not what you think they are you can get another “opinion” at any time. The Appraisers should not be taking into account the state of any properties other than the one they are assigned. That is a BIG LIE because if your property is managed well, and in excellent condition, it will retain its value no matter what. As far as you declaring that a “homeless” person in a NEW HOME makes your community less valuable, that is also a BIG LIE because they are NOT HOMELESS ANYMORE. You said:
“Why don’t we put this homeless development next to Simitan’s house? Who I just voted for by the way. Good way of messing with the people who gave you a job.”
I don’t think this comment warrants any response at all.
THANK YOU @TBM. Concise and succinct. Logical argument points. and …. It all fits within ONE VIEW SCREEN!
JUST WATCH
THE 4 MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL THAT TRIED TO TRICK THE CITY INTO RELEASING THEIR LEGAL RIGHTS UNDER TH CSFRA WILL SABOTAGE THIS PROJECT TO PUNISH THE CITY CITIZENS.
JUST LIKE THE PREVIOUS TIME WHEN MEASURE V PASSED AND MEASURE W WAS REJECTED.
THE CITY CANNOT TRUST ANY OF THESE PEOPLE.
I hate to break the news to you Business Man but no one reads your 50 page responses. You don’t live here. You have no skin in the game. You are a blowhard full of hot air.
I have lived here longer than most if not all. And since the beginning there was always someone trying to steal our home equity.
A helpful suggestion for you Business Man is after this disease stuff is over with you should get involved with your companies or industries ToastMasters and debate people who want you to debate them. You may even get a promotion at work. Then you would be a good Business Man don’t you think?
In response to Bubba you said:
“I hate to break the news to you Business Man but no one reads your 50 page responses. You don’t live here. You have no skin in the game. You are a blowhard full of hot air.”
WOW, I have lived here since 2007 J.F.Y.I. But you just want to distract from the content which was clearly on point. You said:
“I have lived here longer than most if not all. And since the beginning there was always someone trying to steal our home equity.”
How about a reality check, “Home equity theft” doesn’t even exist. The only thing that comes close is “home equity fraud”. It is a political catch phrase used by a private legal group called the Pacific Legal Foundation. And most importantly this situation doesn’t even meet their definition because they call it:
“Uri Rafaeli’s story is heartbreaking to read: Uri is a retired 83-year-old Michigan engineer, and in 2014 he accidentally underpaid, by $8.41, the property taxes on a home he rented out. But instead of notifying him of the issue and helping him, his county government seized the home and sold it at auction for $24,500. The county then kept all the proceeds—leaving Rafaeli with nothing.I” (https://pacificlegal.org/in-13-states-its-legal-for-governments-to-steal-your-home-equity/)
So before you throw out words, maybe you should do some homework because building a new home is not what occurred above. You should know this.
“Home equity” is defined as “Home equity is the market value of a homeowner’s unencumbered interest in their real property, that is, the difference between the home’s fair market value and the outstanding balance of all liens on the property. … They also benefit from a gain in equity when the value of the property increases.”
In effect it is dependent on the accuracy of the appraisal of the property. But since 2007 we all know how the appraisers inflate the values, and under the California Laws it is simply an opinion, and if any person or bank bases there decisions on their words is taking a seriously big risk. Because you cannot use any scientific process to validate these opinions. You said:
“A helpful suggestion for you Business Man is after this disease stuff is over with you should get involved with your companies or industries ToastMasters and debate people who want you to debate them. You may even get a promotion at work. Then you would be a good Business Man don’t you think?”
I will not even make any comment on this.
I guess there is nothing else to discuss on this topic?