HCD recently celebrated a major milestone for the California Housing Accelerator Program, as the Black Panther Apartments became the first Accelerator-funded project to celebrate its grand opening. The Black Panther brings 78 supportive affordable homes for low-income residents to the City of Oakland.

The project, led by former Black Panther chair Elaine Brown and developed by McCormack Baron Salazar, brings much-needed housing and retail space to the West Oakland neighborhood with the goal of revitalizing a once-thriving community.

The Black Panther is supported with more than $65 million in HCD funding, including from the Multifamily Housing Program, Infill Infrastructure Grant Program, Transit Oriented Development Program, and the Housing Accelerator Program. HCD’s Accelerator program helps build housing faster by providing gap funding for shovel-ready projects, like The Black Panther, to jumpstart construction and get them over the finish line.

The mixed-use, transit-oriented development is located near the West Oakland BART Station. In addition to supportive services, on-site amenities include indoor and outdoor community space, a laundry room, and an urban farm. The complex also features sustainable design including roof solar panels and solar shading devices on windows.

California Governor Gavin Newsom today announced $130.6 million in Homekey grant awards for nine new projects that will create 533 permanently supportive homes for Californians at risk of or experiencing homelessness. The new awards include developments focused on young people, individuals, and families who are experiencing homelessness.

“We are proud to stand with local partners who are serving their communities by providing much-needed housing to alleviate homelessness. We’ll continue to support local governments who are doing the work to ensure everyone has a place to call home.” said Governor Newsom.

Today’s $130.6 million in grants through the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) will create new affordable housing in partnership with the cities of Merced, Richmond, San Francisco, and Sebastopol; the counties of Orange, Riverside, and San Mateo; and the housing authorities of the counties of Kern and Sacramento. Since the program’s inception in 2020, Homekey has awarded $3.6 billion to support 259 projects that will include 15,850 homes, projecting to serve more than 172,000 California households over the life of the projects.

“Homekey continues to demonstrate California’s steadfast commitment to working with local partners to expand our housing supply and build new homes for our most vulnerable neighbors,” said Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency Secretary Tomiquia Moss. “Under this latest round of Homekey awards, our partnership with these nine communities will result in 533 permanently supportive homes, supporting Californians in communities across the state.” 

“Originally an emergency measure to help curb the spread of COVID-19 among unhoused Californians, Homekey has grown and evolved into a model for supporting our families and individuals in need of housing such as deserving veterans and others experiencing behavioral health challenges," said Gustavo Velasquez, Director of the California Department of Housing and Community Development. "Thanks to forward-thinking voters, HCD will get to play an even larger role in housing Californians who are struggling, and connecting them to the services they need to exit homelessness and maintain housing stability.”

Homekey, administered by HCD, originated early in the COVID-19 pandemic as Project Roomkey, an emergency effort to quickly provide shelter to unhoused Californians in a non-congregate setting and curb the spread of illness among vulnerable populations. While early Homekey projects focused on hotel and motel conversions, projects awarded in the third round of Homekey have included a hospital conversion, new construction, and innovative modular construction approaches. The program goal remains to rapidly expand availability of affordable housing to help Californians exit or prevent homelessness.

As funding for the Homekey program winds down, HCD staff are gearing up to expand this highly successful model statewide under the new name, Homekey+, thanks to voter foresight in approving Proposition 1 to fund housing and wrap-around supportive services for veterans and other Californians who are at risk of, or experiencing homelessness or chronic homelessness, and also suffering from mental and behavioral health challenges. HCD, in partnership with CalVet, will release the Homekey+ Notice of Funding Availability before the end of 2024.

Below are the project specifics for the Homekey awards announced today:

• The Housing Authority of the County of Sacramento, in partnership with Danco Communities and Sacramento Madison Avenue LP, will receive $17,000,000 for the Madison Square Studios project, a hotel acquisition and rehabilitation that will create 118 permanent supportive homes for people exiting homelessness, in addition to a manager unit.
   
• The City of Merced, in partnership with CC915 Merced, Inc., will receive $11,150,000 for the Homekey CC915 Merced Phase 2 project, modular new construction that will create 57 permanent supportive homes for people exiting homelessness and chronic homelessness, in addition to one manager unit.
   
• The County of Orange, in partnership with American Family Housing, will receive $29,000,000 for the 1400 Bristol project, a motel acquisition and rehabilitation to create 76 permanent supportive homes for people exiting homelessness and chronic homelessness, and individuals at-risk of homelessness, in addition to two manager units.
   
• The City of Richmond, in partnership with 425 Civic Center LP and Trinity Center Walnut Creek, will receive $14,512,660 for the Civic Center Apartments, a hotel acquisition and rehabilitation project that will create 48 permanent supportive homes for people exiting homelessness, in addition to one manager unit.
   
• The County of Riverside, in partnership with Abode Communities, will receive $21,724,000 for the Desert Extended Stay project, a hotel acquisition and rehabilitation project to create 96 permanent supportive homes for individuals at-risk of homelessness, and exiting homelessness and chronic homelessness, in addition to one manager unit.
   
• The City and County of San Francisco will receive $8,225,095 for 42 Otis Street, a multifamily mixed-use acquisition project that will create 24 permanent supportive homes for youth who are exiting or at risk of homelessness.
   
• The County of San Mateo, in partnership with Episcopal Community Services of San Francisco and 721 Airport LLC, will receive $13,892,800 the 721 Airport project, a hotel acquisition and rehabilitation that will create 45 permanent supportive homes for people exiting homelessness and chronic homelessness, in addition to one manager unit.
   
• Sebastopol, in partnership with Society of St. Vincent de Paul Sonoma County District Council, Inc., will receive $6,449,235 for Gravenstein Commons, a new construction project that will create 21 permanent supportive homes for people exiting homelessness, in addition to one manager unit.
   

For additional information on the Homekey program and a complete list of awards, please visit HCD's website. 

The City of Los Angeles recently celebrated the Grand Opening of Weingart Tower 1, an affordable housing high-rise in the heart of Skid Row. The event was attended by city, county, and state leaders, including Business, Consumer Services and Housing (BCSH) Agency Undersecretary Melinda Grant; the Governor’s senior advisor on homelessness, Hafsa Kaka; Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass; HCD Director Gustavo Velasquez; and Congresswoman Maxine Waters.

Standing at 19 stories tall, Weingart Tower 1 has become the largest supportive housing project in the history of Los Angeles. The project provides 275 affordable homes reserved for formerly homeless persons. Each unit is completely furnished and includes a television, central heating and air, and a fully equipped kitchen. The tower also provides on-site supportive services, a gym, an art room, a soundproofed music room, a library, four dog runs, a ground floor cafeteria, and more.

A project of Weingart Center Association, Weingart Tower 1 was made possible by the assistance of its many partners, including Chelsea Investment Corporation, the Central City Association of Los Angeles, the City of Los Angeles, the County of Los Angeles, California’s Strategic Growth Council (SGC), and HCD.

Funding for this project included almost $7 million from HCD’s Multifamily Housing Program (MHP) and more than $13 million from the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) program, which is jointly administered by HCD and the SGC. The next phase, Weingart Tower II, is already under construction, having received an additional $20 million in MHP funding, and a third building is still in the planning phase.

The Ojai community held a tree-planting and land-blessing ceremony to celebrate the opening of new supportive housing for vulnerable youth.

Mesa Ojai will provide 13 transitional homes and trauma-informed supportive services for young adults aged 18-24 years at risk of or experiencing homelessness.

A project of People’s Self Help Housing and situated on a 10-acre farm, Mesa Ojai is supported by more than $4 million from HCD’s Homekey program. Homekey is aimed at rapidly increasing the supply of housing for Californians most in need. This successful model will be expanded with the recent passage of Proposition 1.

The youth served at Mesa Ojai will be provided supportive services using a Positive Youth Development model and trauma-informed care. Wellness support will include mental, physical, and emotional care; residents will also have access to educational and employment training and other programs.

HCD recently joined leaders from National CORE, Mercy House, the Hope through Housing Foundation, the City of Riverside, and the County of Riverside to celebrate the grand opening of Vista de La Sierra, a new affordable housing development in the heart of Riverside’s La Sierra neighborhood.

Built on land provided by the Seventh Day Adventist Church, Vista de La Sierra’s 80 new affordable homes are modern and comfortable, providing much-needed stability for households with incomes ranging from 30-60 percent of Area Median Income. Additionally, 39 of those units are reserved as permanent supportive housing for individuals and families who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

“Affordable housing is one of the most pressing issues in our city, region, and state,” Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson recently shared with National CORE. “Vista de La Sierra moves Riverside one step closer to being able to provide housing for all.”

Designed to be a net-zero energy community, National CORE developed this project with community needs and environmental issues in mind. This project was built through public-private partnerships, with the goal of providing quality affordable housing to the unhoused.

Vista de La Sierra’s permanent supportive housing units were financed in large part by HCD’s No Place Like Home program, which provides developers with the funding and tools necessary to create housing for persons with serious mental illnesses who are homeless, chronically homeless, or at-risk of becoming chronically homeless. With voter approval of Proposition 1, more communities like this should soon become a reality.

“These are the types of projects we are hungry to fund,” said HCD branch chief Patty Fado. “With strong community partnerships like this, we can make homelessness rare.”

The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) joined the Oakland community at the groundbreaking of Friendship Senior Housing, a new affordable housing development for seniors in the Bay Area.

The four-story infill development will provide 50 homes for extremely low-income residents, with supportive homes set aside for seniors experiencing homelessness.

Friendship Senior Housing is supported by more than $15 million from HCD’s Multifamily Housing, Accelerator, and No Place Like Home programs. With the passage of Proposition 1, more funding will be allocated for the building of supportive homes for California’s most vulnerable residents.

A project of Community Housing Development Corporation and Friendship Christian Center, the complex will have various on-site amenities including supportive services, a community room, kitchen, computer room, lobby, parking garage, and courtyard. The development also is close to transit, parks, businesses, a library, and vital services.