Housing Authority takes over downtown Santa Barbara lot
Give Rob Fredericks credit for doing some seriously ingenious research. Fredericks is the Executive Director of the Housing Authority for the City of Santa Barbara, and on Tuesday he secured a $ 2 million loan approved by the Santa Barbara City Council that will allow the Housing Authority to purchase vacant land. at 116 East Cota Street and build a four-story complex there that will house 29 homeless people.
The town hall loan will cover most of the $ 2.6 million purchase price for the land. What makes Fredericks and his fellow Housing Authority folks so resourceful is not so much the loan itself, but the way they found and got the property in the first place.
A private developer had already secured most, but not all, of the municipal permits needed to build 15 market-priced two-bedroom apartments on the two lots – located near Vera Cruz Park and across from the Cota Street parking lot where the The Saturday farmer’s market takes place. Suspending the developer was access issues for new tenants in and out of an alley along Vera Cruz Park, from Cota Streets to Haley Streets. This problem was finally fixed, but the private developers were ready to raise their hands in exasperation.
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Fredericks was on the lookout for such a scenario. Private developers had secured their development rights through the city’s controversial AUD housing density program, designed to promote rental housing production by providing developers with incentives such as increased construction densities and reduced parking needs. . This program, launched in 2013, started out extremely hot but has since cooled considerably. In this case, it was the administrative formalities of the city that caused the stall. It didn’t hurt that the architect who designed the proposed four-story development for private developers had also worked for the Housing Authority.
Better yet – from Fredericks’ perspective – the Housing Authority doesn’t just buy raw earth; he gets a set of building plans that have already been cleared by all of the city’s design review boards. Fredericks said the exterior of the building remains exactly as proposed, but the interior will be reconfigured to accommodate 29 studios which will be rented out to homeless people coming off the street, as opposed to 15 two-bedroom apartments. An additional unit will be built for an on-site manager. In addition, a portion of the ground floor area that would otherwise have been reserved for retail space is now earmarked for programs and counseling services that help tenants stay in permanent accommodation.
As for the parking problem that delayed the project, it will not be a problem for the low-income tenants who occupy the 29 new rental units. Like other Housing Authority projects providing transitional housing to the homeless, tenants living in this one will not be allowed to have cars. Most, given their income, will not be able to afford them. The development will, however, provide 16 spaces for staff, visitors and those providing support services.
The city loan will come with a few conditions. The land will be subject to a 90-year restriction requiring the development to serve low-income and very low-income people, regardless of who owns it over the years. The funds are to be repaid over 30 years with 3% interest, but payments are only required when the income stream generated by the project allows. Renters will pay their transportation costs using Federal Section 8 Housing Vouchers.
While a few regulatory hurdles remain to be overcome, Fredericks said they are relatively minor and can be obtained through a staff hearing officer, as opposed to one of the city’s design review boards. Projects aimed at this clientele – homeless and near-homeless – may meet with strong opposition from surrounding neighbors. In this case, there is no residential development nearby. And the Cota Street parking lot, just across the street, is currently slated to become the site of the city’s proposed new police department.
The city council vote came just two days before the Santa Barbara County grand jury released a major report highlighting the growing need for more housing for the homeless. According to this report, the number of homeless people counted earlier this year in a county-wide census has risen 5% from the number counted last year. The new official tally is 1,897. Of these, 1,223 do not live in any of the county’s homeless shelters; 629 would live in their vehicles. These 30 new units – built in the style of a modern looking glass box – will cut down on a little glitch.
In a related vein, the Housing Authority is still chopping up details of new housing proposals planned for the parking lot at the intersection of Castillo and Carrillo streets. These details are expected to be officially released by the end of July. Fredericks said the exact number of units to offer there has yet to be set, but it will likely be between 49 and 71. It will be a mix of studio apartments, rentals of one bedroom and two bedrooms. The target tenants will be tenants with family incomes between $ 66,000 per year and $ 84,000 – the proverbial “missing link”. These are tenants earning too much to qualify for affordable housing subsidies, but not enough to afford the high rents in the Santa Barbara market.
Two years ago, the Housing Authority first proposed to develop this land, which provides relatively inexpensive paid parking for downtown employees. He was planning to build 44 “small housesWhich would provide transitional housing to those coming off the streets. The project itself galvanized neighborhood concerns, but the short amount of time allowed for public comment – just days – ignited the backlash. (Board members had an exceptionally short time to approve the grant application that would have funded the project.)
This time around, the decision on property density will be made after the neighborhood and city have had a chance to provide their input, Fredericks said. The concepts will be rolled out to neighbors at several virtual community meetings over the coming months.
Correction: Regarding the Cota Street property, access to the lane was included in the development permits that were forwarded to the Housing Authority. Moreover, studies of the development of Castillo Street, including the results of neighborhood meetings, are likely in July, not next week.
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