Watsonville Affordable Housing Development Provides Families Access to Childcare and Transit

Project Description

Via del Mar, a 40-unit compact housing project on a small downtown site, is an example of what it takes to put together a winning combination to serve the housing needs of low and very low income residents.

After nearly a decade of work Via del Mar is under construction and will be completed in the fall.

The project will include:

• Exceptional affordability based on a mix of 1-3 bedroom units that will rent to extremely low, very low and low-income families.
• A childcare facility with capacity for 32 children.
• A central location at the Watsonville Transit Center
• Reuse of a previously underutilized piece of land owned by the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District
• City assistance of $1.64 million that leveraged $10.66 million resulting in total project funds of $12.3 million
• A creative partnership among the city, the transit district and a non-profit housing developer, involving a ground lease from the district to the city and in turn to the non-profit developer.

Maximizing Efficiency

The parcel, approximately 2/3 of an acre in size, is located one block from the downtown Plaza. In July 2002, the city’s request for proposals called for a 21-unit 2-story "garden apartment" style project. However, upon analysis Mid-Peninsula Housing Coalition found that the design didn’t work well for families with children and recommended increasing the density and building atop a parking podium.

The coalition felt strongly that the project could be designed at a higher density and result in a more livable community with more play space for children and fortunately, the city understood that high density doesn’t necessarily translate into an inferior project.

Mid-Peninsula secured the contract and hired architect Michael Pyatok to design the project, at a density of 61 units/acre with parking for 62 cars. Features include lots of sunlight through bay windows and an open-air internal courtyard on top of the parking podium that will provide outdoor play space for the children, as well as a community center with a computer lab for residents.

Funding

Putting together $12.3 million in funding from multiple sources proved to be the most difficult aspect of the project. The City’s share includes a $1,215,000 "residual receipts" loan from the redevelopment agency’s 20 percent Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund and other grants for the childcare center totaling approximately $430,000.

Other sources of permanent financing include 4 percent tax credits and loans from the California Housing Finance Agency, the State Multi-family Housing Program (Proposition 46 money), California HOME Investment Partnership Program, the Federal Home Loan Bank’s Affordable Housing Program. The project also received several grants, including $600,000 from the State Department of Housing and Community Development’s Joe Serna Jr., Farm Worker Housing Grant Program.

Impact

The affordability will be exceptional. Sixteen units will rent to families earning 30-35 percent of area median income (AMI), and 23 units will rent to families at the 50-60 percent AMI income level. (The 40th unit is reserved for the on-site residential manager).

The project is decidedly pro-family, with 33 of the 40 units consisting of 2 and 3 bedrooms. Half of the 32 childcare slots will be subsidized, and project residents will have preference for the childcare.

The lesson in all of this: partnerships and persistence make the difference, but none of it is possible without serious financial subsidy to ensure affordability.

Contribution

Ana Ventura-Phares, Mayor, City of Watsonville