May 2024 News

NEWSLETTER

HOUSING OUR NEIGHBORS

Another Amazing Affordable Housing Month

As Affordable Housing Month comes to a close, we are excited to share a new project we Just Funded in San Jose with Charities Housing, which will create 58 new affordable homes for families and neighbors in need of rapid rehousing in the greater Bay Area region.

We are also sharing some photos of the many events we were part of this month, from our Investor Briefing, to our Affordable Housing Finance events. And we've had an incredible month of grand openings and groundbreakings. View them here.

As you may also know, May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month. To commemorate this month, we are highlighting Eden Housing's Tabasa Gardens in Watsonville, which was named after Rosie Tabasa, one of the first Filipina business owners in Watsonville. From helping fellow immigrants get vaccinated and registering their children for school, to assisting them in applying for affordable housing during the 1930s, she was a true humanitarian whose story must not be forgotten. Keep reading to learn more about her life.

Just Funded!

998 De Anza

San Jose, CA

Developer: Charities Housing

Housing Trust Loan: $5.234 million

Proposed Units: 58

Population Served: Families

Located on De Anza Boulevard, an urban corridor with a mix of retail business and residential uses, this project will include approximately 58 affordable housing units, with 20 units reserved for rapid rehousing. The affordability mix includes 29 units for households earning at or below 30% of the area median income (AMI), 28 units for households earning at or below 50% AMI, and 1 unrestricted unit for the property manager.

Amenities available on-site will include job assistance and workforce training, counseling and assistance, and services to help reduce eviction and resident turnover. Sustainability features of the new construction will include water-efficient design and appliances, as well as water-efficient landscaping; solar panels; 100% electric appliances; and bike parking. Also, the project will be GreenPoint Rated.

We are proud to have provided an acquisition loan through our Supportive Housing Fund and the Golden State Acquisition Fund to our long-time partners, Charities Housing to purchase the 1.03 acre vacant land.

The Supportive Housing Fund is a partnership between Housing Trust and the County of Santa Clara. The intent of this revolving loan fund is to reduce homelessness by creating permanent housing with supportive services for extremely low-income individuals and families, as well as those with special needs. These loans – which catalyze the implementation of Measure A – can finance acquisition, predevelopment, or construction of permanent supportive housing.

Housing Trust is a participating lender in the Golden State Acquisition Fund. We use these funds to provide flexible financing to help organizations like Charities Housing compete to acquire sites on the open market, and provide much needed predevelopment funds.

Thinking about your next affordable housing project - let’s talk!

Housing Trust works with mission-aligned developers to move their projects from concept to creation. Get in touch now to get started.

For more information on lending programs for developers, contact: Fathia Macauley, Stephaney Kipple, or Maryann Salt.

Fathia Macauley

Chief Lending Officer

Stephaney Kipple

Multifamily Lending Manager

Maryann Salt

Loan Officer

Investor Briefing Was An Event to Remember

Thank you to everyone who joined us for Investor Briefing 2024 on May 2! Your presence, as well as our featured speakers, Councilmember for the City of Mountain View, Margaret Abe-Koga and Senior Director of Real Estate Development at Google, Alexa Arena, and our generous sponsors made it an event to remember.

We look forward to seeing more of you at next year’s event – celebrating our 25th year of using transformative housing finance and public and private partnerships to create more equitable and affordable communities.

These photos capture some wonderful moments of connections and conversations that lead to more housing opportunities for our neighbors, let's keep the conversations going. Enjoy!

May Affordable Housing Finance 101 and 301

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our May events for developers and anyone interested in creating affordable housing: Affordable Housing Finance 101 webinar on May 15, Affordable Housing Finance 301 on May 23 in-person in Petaluma, and Affordable Housing Finance 101 on May 30 in-person in Capitola.

If you’d like to review any of the information from the presentations, below are links to the the slides and the video recording.

Access the slides at: https://bit.ly/AHF101May.

Watch the video recording at: https://bit.ly/AffordableHousingFinanceRecording.

A shout out to our speakers, Stephaney Kipple, Multifamily Lending Manager, Julie Quinn, Chief Program and Impact Officer, and Fathia Macauley, Chief Lending Officer. Thank you to our co-hosts Generation Housing, East Bay Housing Organizations (EBHO), and Housing Santa Cruz County, as well as our marketing partners SV@Home, Santa Rosa Metro Chamber, North Bay Leadership Council, Monterey Economic Partnership (MBEP), and City of Capitola.

Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month

May offers the perfect opportunity to reflect on and celebrate the important role that Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPIs) have played in our shared history. During this month's festivities, it’s important to honor community figures like Rosie Tabasa, whose legacy continues to inspire our neighbors in Watsonville, in the Santa Cruz/Monterey Bay region.

Rosie Tabasa was one of the first Filipino business owners in Watsonville during the 1930s and is celebrated for her contributions to the Filipino farmworker community. From helping fellow immigrants get vaccinated and making sure that their children register for school, to assisting them in applying for affordable housing, driver's licenses, and work permits, her dedication has left a mark on countless lives.

Her spirit lives on at Tabasa Gardens, a 53-unit affordable housing project in Watsonville developed by Eden Housing, Inc.. This development not only provides essential affordable housing, but also pays tribute to Tabasa's legacy with a mural on its facade. We are proud to be part of this new community in the Santa Cruz/Monterey Bay region. Learn more.

Empowered By Home: The Lucky Ones

"We are very happy to have our own place – thank you so much. We bought the house and got the house we wanted and needed for our family. It's our very first home to build new memories." – Khoa and Phuong, recent homebuyers in San Jose

Learn more about Khoa, Phuong, and our Empower Homebuyers SCC down payment assistance program.

PARTNER HIGHLIGHTS

“I know that there’s always light at the end of the tunnel, and the lights shine so bright over here.” – Lissa, a new resident at Meridian

Learn about our new neighbor Lissa and Related California's new Meridian community in Sunnyvale in this article from San Jose Spotlight about last month's Grand Opening celebration.

CEO Noni Ramos Joins Panel at Center for California Real Estate Event

Our CEO, Noni Ramos recently joined the Center for California Real Estate for a panel discussion about "Unlocking Potential: Tackling the Bay Area's Housing Supply Challenge."

If you were not able to attend or watch the livestream, you can still check out the recording here.

DO YOU KNOW?

What is the Housing Element?

Housing Elements are a critically important 8-year plan that each California city must create to meet the housing needs of all their residents, at all income levels. Housing Elements must be certified as compliant with state housing law by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) in order for cities to avoid loss of local land use authority, fines, and loss of access to important pools of state funding. Learn more from SV@Home.