CUPERTINO — Apple has launched what it calls a “Bay Area Housing Innovation Fund” that the iPhone maker hopes will help bolster the development of more affordable homes in the region and adjacent areas.
The housing innovation fund will make targeted loans with favorable terms to create more development of affordable residences in the Bay Area and nearby, Apple said.
Apple’s $50 million Housing Innovation Fund is part of the tech titan’s wide-ranging commitment to invest $2.5 billion to advance affordable housing efforts throughout California.
“We believe everyone deserves a place to call home,” said Kristina Raspe, Apple’s vice president of global real estate and facilities. “Apple’s $2.5 billion initiative is supporting more affordable housing options across the state.”
The $50 million to kick off the investments from the Housing Innovation Fund will be used to bolster the financing of four affordable housing projects in the region.
Together, the four projects will create more than 400 homes within the next two years, according to Apple.
One of the affordable projects will sprout in San Francisco and the other is slated to rise in Santa Cruz.
Details were minimal regarding the Santa Cruz affordable housing project, including its precise location.
Apple and its partners didn’t immediately provide details on the sites for the remaining two of the four projects.
The San Francisco project will create 145 residences in that city’s Mission District.
The Santa Cruz project is slated to break ground by the end of this year.
Cupertino-based Apple is teaming up with Sobrato Philanthropies, Destination: Home and San Francisco Housing Accelerator Fund to launch the Bay Area Housing Innovation Fund.
“We cannot effectively address the homelessness and affordability crises in the Bay Area if we continue building and funding affordable housing in the same way,” said Rebecca Foster, chief executive officer of the San Francisco Housing Accelerator Fund.
Apple and its partners are pursuing innovative ways to slash costs and speed up the development process for affordable housing projects.
Including the Bay Area Housing Innovation Fund’s $50 million endeavor, Apple has now invested more than $1.6 billion to support affordable housing initiatives in California, according to the tech titan.
The company’s $1.6 billion effort is assisting affordable housing developers to build or preserve more than 10,000 residential units with more than 90 projects in California, Apple said.
Besides its three partners in the Housing Innovation Fund, Apple is working with Housing Trust Silicon Valley, California Housing Finance Agency, United Way of Greater Los Angeles and a number of individual housing developers.
The Housing Innovation Fund has identified several more eligible projects that serve very low-income families and meet the initiative’s benchmarks for timelines and costs. Apple didn’t provide specific details on locations or unit counts.
“This fund is designed to showcase what is possible when we have clear goals, a shared commitment to meet these targets, and a simplified financing structure,” Foster said.
