The neighborhood of Boyle Heights recently celebrated the grand opening of a new affordable housing development. Los Lirios, a five-story apartment complex atop 2,400 square feet of ground-floor retail space, is designed for individuals and families earning 30-50 percent of Area Median Income.

Located only one block from Metro’s Soto Station, Los Lirios provides 63 pet-friendly homes close to grocery stores, playgrounds, and a hospital. Each home comes with central heating and air, with 18 homes offering accessibility for people with mobility and hearing issues. Twenty homes have been set aside for formerly homeless households supported by Section 8 vouchers. 

Los Lirios would not have been possible without the partnership the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority created with East LA Community Corporation (ELACC) and BRIDGE Housing Corporation. HCD contributed $10 million in Transit-Oriented Development Housing Program funding to the project, allowing developers to create a high-density complex and improve local area infrastructure. 

Today, residents can enjoy the on-site workout room, laundry facilities, community room, and children’s play area, as well as a beautiful outdoor courtyard. Services including wellness workshops and after-school tutoring are offered through ELACC. Case management and supportive services for the formerly unhoused are provided by PATH Ventures.

HCD-funded Foon Lok East brings 124 supportive homes to the City of Oakland. Hear from resident Donna who says she feels like the luckiest person in the world. 

Fook Lok East was supported by HCD’s No Place Like Home and Accelerator programs. This complex is the final addition to the Brooklyn Basin neighborhood, which now offers 465 affordable homes to area residents.

The North Campus of the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs master-planned community has a new affordable housing development to support veterans with special needs who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness. MacArthur Field A is a three-story, secure-access home for veterans earning 30-50% of Area Median Income. It includes 74 apartments that are 100-percent electric with solar support. 

A project of the Veterans Collective, MacArthur Field A was developed by Core Affordable Housing, LLC and is managed by EAH Housing. The property includes a gym, laundry facilities, and a business center, as well as a large exterior recreational area, walking paths, a community garden, and a dog park. 

HCD’s Veterans Housing and Homelessness Prevention Program provided $15 million in funding for MacArthur Field A, with another $21.8 million awarded for the next section of the development—MacArthur Field B. Between the two buildings, the Veterans Collective will create 148 new permanent supportive homes for formerly homeless and disabled veterans. 

Permanent supportive housing for veterans and other Californians with behavioral health challenge will be a major focus statewide, as HCD administers the Homekey+ program made possible in large part through voter approval of Proposition 1.

Community members and state and local leaders recently gathered to celebrate the grand opening of two new affordable housing communities in the City of Napa. 

Heritage House & Valle Verde Apartments bring a total of 90 new homes to the North Bay community. Heritage House is an adaptive reuse project, which converted a former assisted living facility into 66 permanent supportive homes. Valle Verde is a 24-unit new construction located next to Heritage House. Both these developments provide affordable homes for low-income families, agricultural workers and people exiting homelessness. 

A project of Burbank Housing, Heritage House & Valle Verde Apartments was supported by nearly $15 million from HCD’s No Place Like Home, Joe Serna, Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant and Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Multifamily Housing (DR-MHP) programs. In October 2017, The Central LNU Complex fire was responsible for the highest number of destroyed structures within Napa and Sonoma Counties. Heritage House & Valle Verde Apartments is the second DR-MHP project to finish construction in the City of Napa. 

In addition to on-site supportive services, residents have access to amenities including a community room with kitchen, computer lab, laundry room, outdoor courtyard, and bicycle parking.

A new affordable housing development for transitional age youth (TAY) has opened in San Jose. Sunrise Pavilion offers 43 pet-friendly homes to young adults ages 18 to 24 who are exiting the foster care system in Santa Clara County and provides on-site services, career counseling, and wireless internet access. 

A project of the Santa Clara County Housing Authority, Sunrise Pavilion was developed by Jamboree Housing and includes a community center and laundry facilities. More than half of the homes are permanent supportive housing, providing residents with services that invoke safety and stability. The remaining units are transitional housing, helping youth who are aging out of foster care gain life skills to live independently. 

Counseling and crisis management services are offered on site by the Bill Wilson Center and Community Solutions. Resident youth can also take advantage of the career development programs run by Housing with Heart and funded by Santa Clara County’s Office of Supportive Housing. 

HCD contributed more than $14.3 million in Homekey funds to help make Sunrise Pavilion a reality. Using a block grant from HCD’s Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention program, the City of San Jose contributed an additional $2 million to the project. Sunrise Pavilion and other TAY communities give a more stable future to foster youth and help prevent youth homelessness. As Santa Clara County’s chief operating officer Greta Hansen said in a related article, “We are committed to providing unhoused families and young adults with the housing and support they need to lead safe and healthy lives.”

A new affordable housing complex has opened in Oakland! Foon Lok East, a six-story building, is the fourth and final affordable housing development in Oakland’s new master-planned Brooklyn Basin neighborhood. Now officially open and operational, Foon Lok East adds 124 new homes to the area. 

A project of nonprofit MidPen Housing, in partnership with the City of Oakland and the Oakland Housing Authority, Foon Lok East was awarded almost $12 million in funding from HCD’s No Place Like Home (NPLH) program in June 2020. However, the long-term impacts of the pandemic—such as supply chain disruptions and labor shortages—drove up anticipated costs, creating a funding gap and placing the project in jeopardy. 

Fortunately, HCD’s California Housing Accelerator (Accelerator) program was created to fill funding gaps for shovel-ready affordable housing projects to keep them on track to house Californians in need. In 2021, the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency (BCSH) and HCD stood on the site of Foon Lok to announce the launch of Accelerator. Foon Lok East was awarded over $57 million in Accelerator funding, allowing MidPen Housing to begin construction in 2022. 

Today, Foon Lok East provides housing for low- and extremely low-income working families, with 38 units reserved for NPLH-qualified households and individuals experiencing homelessness. The development includes a community room, computer lab, learning center, playground and barbeque area, and on-site support services including health and wellness programs and after-school programs. With this fourth and final addition, the Brooklyn Basin neighborhood now offers 465 affordable homes to Oakland residents.

Watch the video below to hear from resident Donna.

The City of Santa Paula recently opened a new multifamily housing complex offering 68 new homes to very low- and extremely low-income Ventura County residents, with 21 of those homes reserved for farmworkers and their families. 

A project of People’s Self-Help Housing, People’s Place provides residents with on-site playgrounds and shared gardens. On-site support services are offered to all residents, including social worker assistance, after-school programs, and more. 

HCD contributed over $3.8 million in Joe Serna, Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant Program funds and another million in Community Development Block Grant—Disaster Recovery funds to make People’s Place a reality. The Department continues its focus on funding development of affordable housing with supportive services through Homekey+, creating spaces where all California families can thrive.