Santa Clara County may spend $75.5 million on affordable housing in three cities.
The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve a proposal to build six projects with 758 apartments to address the county’s growing homeless population. Four of the developments are planned for San Jose, another is planned for Mountain View and the last will be in Sunnyvale.
“We know that we have over 600 families a year becoming homeless in our community,” Supervisor Cindy Chavez said ahead of the vote. “One family a year is too many to be on our streets here in Santa Clara County.”
Many residents were pushed out of their homes due to the pandemic, leading to homeless encampments across the county. Advocates say 250 people died on the streets last year.
The last time Santa Clara checked the number of homeless, in 2019, the county tallied 9,700 people, according to the San Jose Spotlight. While the last biennial count was canceled due to the pandemic, the county is scheduled to get an updated number later this month.
The affordable housing units planned for San Jose include a 365-unit development at McEvoy and Dupont streets, a 103-unit senior housing complex on North 15th Street and a 116-unit development on Grand Avenue and Race Street. The Residence Inn on San Ignacio Avenue will be converted into a 102-unit development as well.
A 93-unit development is planned for West Weddell Drive in Sunnyvale and a 120-apartment complex will be built on a Mountain View lot.
In addition to the affordable housing projects, Chavez said supervisors are also going to consider a $2 million expansion of a motel shelter program run by Amigos de Guadalupe, which operates Santa Clara County’s tiny home site in San Jose where 25 families live. The funds would add 45 more beds to the shelter program.
More than half of the proposed new units — about 497 — will be reserved for those who earn less than 80 percent of the area median income of $117,750 for a household of four. About 122 units will serve as temporary housing and more than 100 will be used as permanent supportive housing.
Read more
Residential
San Francisco
Santa Clara County to buy four South Bay properties for affordable housing projects
UPDATED Feb. 9, 2022, 5:23 pm: This story has been updated with the result of the vote.
[SJS] — Victoria Pruitt