Hayward’s Mt Eden neighborhood will welcome a new, 125-unit Permanent Supportive Housing Development in early 2023. When complete, the project will provide housing for individuals and families earning 20%-60% Average Median Income (AMI), and may ultimately be able to house tenants earning as little as 15% AMI. The development will offer integrated services to help the formerly homeless families and individuals who live there get back on their feet.
Abode Services, a nonprofit organization committed to ending homelessness, purchased the three-acre site at 2595 Depot Road for $3.5 million from Horizon Services, Inc. — a nonprofit social service organization with alcohol and drug treatment centers across the Bay Area. The landmark deal allows Horizon to continue operating its residential alcohol and drug treatment center, Cronin House, on one acre of the property in perpetuity, while Abode’s development arm, Allied Housing, will build and operate supportive housing on the unused additional two acres. It was a win-win for everyone, and an extraordinary opportunity for two institutions committed to helping homeless residents of Alameda County to work together.
The site acquisition was funded by Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), a national affordable housing non-profit focused on permanent supportive housing with participation from Capital Impact Partners, also a national affordable housing non-profit, leveraging capital from the Bay’s Future Fund. Both organizations, along with LISCs, are originators for the Bay’s Future Fund. The Bay’s Future Fund (BFF)–part of the investment arm for the Partnership for the Bay’s Future, a unique cross-sector effort to tackle Bay Area housing issues with the dual approach of employing policy and affordable housing lending—strives to provide loan capital to meet the unique needs of affordable housing developers in the Bay Area.
“We went to CSH and they recommended the Bay’s Future Fund as an entity that could satisfy our budget by providing favorable interest rates that lowered project costs,” says Macy Leung, Project Manager at Allied Housing/Abode Services. “The Bay’s Future Fund’s loan terms were favorable and CSH/Capital Impact as loan servicers were also extremely flexible, allowing us to draw money based on the phasing of the project and when we really needed it, rather than establishing a set schedule, as many other funders do. This was crucial to the success of the project.”
Located in a neighborhood near transit and community colleges, Allied’s vision was to build a multi-unit, affordable housing project where half the units could be reserved for the chronically homeless. When appropriate, individuals seeking support at Cronin House with permanent housing needs could be referred to the County and work with Abode to seek placement for them at 2595 Depot Road.
Andrea Morgan, Senior Community Investment Officer of CSH was impressed by the developer’s intent. “Allied came to us with a thoughtful design. In addition to the money anticipated from the County to provide ongoing services, Allied carved out a portion of the project’s operating budget to provide services as well—to make sure tenants would have a high quality of life and thrive in the environment where they’re living.”
Abode is working in close collaboration with Horizon to make sure that the development is inclusive of Cronin House, because the two entities are meant to overlap. Allied plans to use some of the project’s funding to redesign and upgrade the exterior of Cronin House, plus add BBQ equipment, parking, a fitness area, and landscaping.
“We are deliberately designing this residence to be a space of progress, hope, and wellness” says Leung. “A place where people who used to be homeless can find security and support, and can build a solid foundation from which they can reach their potential. It is being designed to be encouraging and inspiring.”
The project will also be Hayward’s first all-electric and solar project, designed to comply with the city’s recently adopted Reach Code – a local building energy code that “reaches” beyond the state minimum requirements for energy use in building design and construction. Allied plans to break ground in Spring or Summer of 2021.
“It’s rewarding to see projects like this move forward to support people who are under the threat of homelessness or rebuilding their lives after experiencing homelessness in a space that will create hope,” says Michelle Holleran, Vice President of Impact Finance at JP Morgan Chase, the largest debt investor in the BFF.
“These are the kinds of creative, groundbreaking projects we need more of in the Bay Area,” says Cindy Wu, Executive Director of Bay Area LISC, the organization that manages the Bay’s Future Fund, which was responsible for funding the acquisition and predevelopment of project site. “Every time we find a new way to build, and serve these populations, we set an example, and create an opportunity for exponential change.”
The Bay’s Future Fund was made possible by the generous support of our debt investors including: JPMorgan Chase, First Republic Bank, San Francisco Foundation, and Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
Read More : https://www.lisc.org/our-stories/