(Link to original press release from Housing Trust Silicon Valley)
March 4, 2021–Google and Housing Trust Silicon Valley, a nonprofit community loan fund that works to create a strong affordable housing market in the greater Bay Area, are announcing though their Launch Initiative new loans of approximately $30 million for three Bay Area affordable housing developments which will help create over 1,100 affordable homes. This is in addition to the nearly 700 homes already enabled in the first months of Launch Initiative’s start in July 2020, and part of Google’s broader $1 billion housing commitment for the Bay Area.
The three latest affordable housing developments Housing Trust and Google’s Launch Initiative has helped fund include Eden Housing’s La Avenida (Mountain View), USA Properties Fund and The Pinyon Group’s Tasman East (Santa Clara), and BRIDGE Housing’s Potrero development in San Francisco.
“The end of the pandemic may be in sight, but the economic impact in our region is just beginning,” said Julie Mahowald, Chief Financial Officer of Housing Trust Silicon Valley. “The funds from Launch Initiative aren’t just going to great developments led by committed partners, but to jobs in construction and a down payment on the future of the communities around these homes. This is the very kind of investment the greater Bay Area needs in this critical time.”
The three developments share a common trait of being located close to transit and services to enable healthier, safer, and more financially resilient communities.
“USA Properties Fund and The Pinyon Group are excited to be developing Tasman East Parcel 24 in partnership with the City of Santa Clara,” said Geoff Brown, President and CEO of USA Properties Fund. “This project will be one of the most well-located transit-oriented developments in Silicon Valley and will bring much needed affordable housing at a broad range of incomes near new and existing employment hubs.”
The Potrero development is part of a multi-year, multi-building effort to create hundreds of new affordable homes and revitalize the 600 already on the site. BRIDGE Housing has partnered with the San Francisco Housing Authority and the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development to revitalize the area.
“Housing is a human right, plain and simple. All of us must do our part to increase access to affordable homes,” said State Senator Scott Wiener. “To continue to address this great need, we need a sustained, massive effort from the federal, state, and local governments, nonprofits, and companies in the private sector. I’m thrilled to see the work BRIDGE Housing, Hope SF, and Google are doing to create over 850 fully affordable homes in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill neighborhood.”
“The flexible predevelopment funding provided by the Google loan will help us accelerate the pace of delivery at Potrero,” said Cynthia A. Parker, President & CEO of BRIDGE Housing. “This means more than 800 affordable homes plus a range of housing, amenities and open space that will lift up the entire community.”
“Affordable housing is needed now more than ever given the devastating impact of COVID-19 on our communities,” said Rebecca Prozan, Google’s West Coast Policy Lead. “As a San Franciscan, I’m so proud that, together, Google and Housing Trust are committing to our first project in San Francisco and two other vital projects in the Bay Area. We continue to be as focused as ever on helping the Bay Area build more affordable homes in this time of need.”
Previously announced developments funded by Launch Initiative include San Jose projects Alum Rock by Charities Housing and McEvoy by First Community Housing, as well as Timber Street by Eden Housing in Newark and Orchard Gardens in Sunnyvale.
Google and Housing Trust Silicon Valley’s Launch Initiative, announced on July 23, 2020, is a $50 million fund aimed to accelerate the start-up and preservation of affordable homes and is expected to help catalyze the creation of 4,000 homes in ten years. The fund doubles the size of the collaboration between the two organizations as Google invested in Housing Trust’s TECH Fund shortly after its June 2019 pledge of $1 billion for Bay Area housing.
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