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San Mateo County is making significant progress in expanding affordable housing.
Two significant developments have advanced in the past month: One project in San Carlos broke ground, and another in North Fair Oaks is heading toward financing approval.
On April 25, last month, San Carlos officials and community leaders gathered downtown to celebrate the long-awaited groundbreaking of Cherry Street Commons, a 33-unit, 100% affordable housing project for families. The milestone comes more than a decade after the city’s former Redevelopment Agency envisioned the project in 2010.
“The City of San Carlos has been working on the Cherry Street Commons project since 2010,” said Mayor Sara McDowell. “Fifteen years later, we’re celebrating a major milestone today.”
The development, located just blocks from the pedestrian-friendly Laurel Street corridor, will offer one-, two-, and three-bedroom units for low-income households. It’s being built in partnership with HIP Housing and Eden Housing, with the city contributing $12.8 million from its Affordable Housing Fund, one of its largest investments.
U.S. Rep. Kevin Mullin, who attended the event, called affordable housing “a crucial step in addressing the cost of living challenges faced in our community and across the country.”
McDowell summed up the stakes during the San Carlos event.
“With affordable rent, families can enjoy the gift of time, with one another, around the dinner table in the evenings. What a gift, and our community is better for it,” she said.
Meanwhile, just a few miles away in North Fair Oaks, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors has approved a public hearing on a financing plan for an 86-unit affordable housing project proposed by Affirmed Housing Group.
The development, located at 430–434 Douglas Avenue and 429–431 MacArthur Avenue in unincorporated Redwood City, would be funded through up to $50 million in tax-exempt revenue bonds issued by the California Municipal Finance Authority (CMFA).
The project will be owned and operated by a partnership created by AHG North Fair Oaks, LLC, and would provide much-needed housing for low-income residents in a neighborhood that has long faced displacement pressures.
Together, these two projects represent a growing regional effort to confront the housing crisis with local solutions, including long-term planning and community partnerships and complex financing strategies.
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