In one of its largest awards of affordable housing funds in the city’s history, Sunnyvale is pouring nearly $30 million towards building hundreds of new homes.
“This significant investment in affordable housing will serve a range of needs in our community,” stated Mayor Larry Klein in a news release. “These projects take a lot of hard work and depend on the strong partnerships we have with their developers. We look forward to seeing them come to fruition.”
The funding for the projects comes out of the city’s housing mitigation funds, which is awarded every two years to chosen developers. The money is collected from two types of development fees: housing impact fees which are collected from new non-residential developments and below market rate in-lieu fees, which are from new residential developments. Projects using housing mitigation funds are restricted to affordable to lower-income households for a minimum of 55 years, according to the city.
The projects will set aside units for those who are low- to extremely-low income. For a family of four in Santa Clara County, that is a salary of $146,100 or lower. In Sunnyvale, the median household income is roughly $174,506, and about half of its residents are renters.
MidPen Housing, a Foster City-based nonprofit that builds affordable housing in northern California, was awarded $14 million to fund 170 affordable units at Sonora Court, which is near the Lawrence Caltrain Station. The project will begin in 2028 and allocate 34 permanent supportive housing units for formerly unhoused residents.
A similar affordable housing development by the nonprofit is also being built at Sonora and is expected to open next year. The Ira D. Hall Square apartments will have have 176 units available, with 45 reserved for homeless individuals referred from Santa Clara County. MidPen will potentially partner with the county again to provide support services for future tenants at the new Sonora Court development, according to Jennifer Liu, senior project manager for the non-profit.
MidPen was also granted an additional $1.5 million to build 125 affordable units along Mathilda Avenue in Sunnyvale’s downtown, which will break ground in 2027. A quarter of the units will be set aside for those who are homeless. The city purchased the site in 2023 and and is leasing it to the nonprofit.
“Local funding is really critical to get affordable housing built,” Liu said.
Related Articles
‘Dangerous’ conditions, money woes haunt high-profile San Jose tower
Repo magnate is the buyer of iconic mansion on East Bay hillside
Letters: Trump and Fed | Complex issues | Diverse community | Hurting patients | Harris economy
Redevelopment of Diridon Station could cost taxpayers $10 billion
Housing highrise may replace office tower project in downtown San Jose
Sunnyvale is providing $14 million to real estate developers The Pacific Companies and Miramar Capital for 305 affordable units, which will be in Moffett Park in northern Sunnyvale. The project will begin construction in 2026, and be the first residential development outlined in the Moffett Park Specific Plan, the city’s blueprint to revitalize the park in the upcoming decades with new housing, office developments and eco-friendly facilities.
The projects come as Sunnyvale plans to add 11,966 new homes by 2031, with roughly half reserved for low-income housing. The nine-county Bay Area is expected to build more than 441,000 new homes by then to meet housing demands, a roughly 15% increase in the region’s total housing stock.
