CRE: Ventura affordable housing project funded by Housing Trust Fund
The Housing Trust Fund Ventura County approved a $1.5 million loan to help fund College Community Courts, a People’s Self-Help Housing Corporation affordable housing development project centered in Ventura, the nonprofit announced on Oct. 12.
The construction is set to begin in late 2024 and the College Community Courts will be a new multi-family housing community that will provide 57 affordable units for farmworkers and their families.
According to a press release, the College Community Courts will provide 15 one-bedroom, 27 two-bedroom and 15 three-bedroom units for a total of 75 affordable apartment homes housed within five contemporary two-story buildings.
Residents will include the community’s essential farmworkers and their families, as well as working class individuals and families earning between 30% and 60% of Ventura County’s Area Median Income (AMI).
Several resident-serving amenities have been integrated into the property including a large community room, computer lab, children’s space, management offices, and outdoor courtyards that feature comfortable seating, children’s play structures, and barbeque areas.
“57 new units are 57 safe and comfortable homes for individuals and families who won’t have to worry about where they will end each day,” Linda Braunschweiger, CEO of Housing Trust Fund Ventura County, said in a press release.
“We are confident that this development from People’s Self-Help Housing will bring much-needed stability our hard-working neighbors are searching for.”
In its 2021-2029 Housing Element Update, the city of Ventura quantified its specific housing objectives to be 1,187 newly constructed units for extremely low- and very-low-income households and 865 units for low-income individuals and families.
The completion of these 57 permanently affordable rental units for households within the 30-60% of Area Median Income range will directly contribute to addressing this need, according to the press release.
TECH PARK UPDATE
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo broke ground on the second phase of its Technology Park expansion, a project aimed at providing additional space to engage with industry and other partners to support student success and meet local workforce and innovation needs, the university announced on Oct. 11.
The 16,200-square-foot expansion is the second in a multiphase plan to create a Cal Poly Tech Park campus that will increase opportunity for student and faculty collaboration and partnership with the science, technology, engineering, mathematics and liberal studies (STEML) communities.
“With the Tech Park, Cal Poly has created a unique opportunity for students and faculty to pursue advanced research, prospect startups and develop early and lasting relationships with industry and other partners,” Jim Dunning, associate executive director, real estate development and services at the Cal Poly Corporation, said in a press release.
The $12.2 million expansion is largely funded by a $6.7 million federal grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, according to the press release.
Scheduled to open in September 2024, the expanded facility will also provide space for faculty startups and opportunities for students to engage in sponsored research and development activities with entities that reside in the Tech Park, Cal Poly said in a news release.
GROUNDBREAKING ALERT
The Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation celebrated the groundbreaking for the Dolores Huerta Gardens Apartments, a 58-unit affordable housing development that will provide much-needed housing for both farmworkers and the homeless veteran community in Ventura County, on Oct. 4.
Dolores Huerta, a civil rights advocate whose fight for labor rights and social justice has inspired generations, was at the event and the 93-year-old spoke strongly about the ongoing struggles that farmworkers face, the lack of resources that are available to them, and her hopes for the future residents who will live at Dolores Huerta Gardens Apartments.
“It’s the farmers who feed, not only the other essential workers, but they feed the whole nation,” she said.
“Yet farmworkers, unlike other essential workers, don’t have the salaries, they don’t have the benefits, they don’t have the pension plans the other workers have. I hope future residents at the Dolores Huerta Gardens Apartments will be engaged in the movement for social and economic justice. It’s not just about housing, we want them to participate in the movement because we still have a long way to go.”
The Dolores Huerta Gardens Apartments received $26.26 million in funding from the California Housing Accelerator Comeback Plan, a larger effort to address homelessness and provide affordable housing in California, the press release said.
The California Housing Accelerator Comeback Plan aims to create 2,755 affordable homes across 30 communities in the state.
