CONCORD — Affordable housing is expensive to build, so the city plans to pitch in several million dollars to fund two projects.
Housing developers have until March 1 to submit proposals to the city for funds to build new affordable apartment complexes or to purchase and rehabilitate existing rental units.
The nearly $9 million in Concord’s affordable housing fund is projected to grow to $14 million by 2023, enough to finance 140 to 160 units, based on an average subsidy of $75,000 to $100,000 per unit, according to the city.
City leaders have said they want to use the funds to provide housing for seniors, veterans and teachers.
Councilwoman Carlyn Obringer has called for Concord to invest in existing housing stock — particularly a group of rundown apartment buildings along Clayton Road and Marclair and Bel Air drives — to achieve the goal of creating more permanent affordable housing.
“Quite frankly, we have pockets of this community where the living conditions are not what they should be,” Obringer said during a recent council discussion.
“These units are also not guaranteed affordable housing; and so an acquisition and a rehabilitation … would help to provide some long-term stability for the families that are living there.”
Citing per unit construction costs of up to $500,000 for a pair of recent affordable housing projects in nearby cities, Councilwoman Laura Hoffmeister agreed that fixing up existing apartment complexes may provide “more bang for your buck” and improve property values in a neighborhood.
The Housing and Economic Development Committee will review the development proposals and recommend one or two to the full council in April.
There are 1,859 rental units with some affordability restrictions in 26 apartment buildings in Concord, most of them clustered in the area around Monument Boulevard.
The Association of Bay Area Governments has estimated the city needs to add 1,242 housing units that are affordable to extremely low-, very low- and low-income families between 2014 and 2022.
In this context, affordable means tenants pay a maximum of 30 percent of their gross monthly income for rent and utilities. For a family of four earning $52,150 (50 percent of the area median income) an affordable three-bedroom unit would cost $1,303 per month.
In the past, the city has provided long-term loans to nonprofit affordable housing developers to build new developments or to rehabilitate existing rental units.
For example, Concord loaned Resources for Community Development $1.1 million to renovate 16 apartment buildings the nonprofit affordable housing developer owns on Camara Circle and Riley Court in exchange for keeping affordability restrictions in place for 55 years.
Dan Hardy, associate director of housing development for Resources for Community Development, told the council that the Berkeley organization is negotiating to purchase a downtown property that could house 60 to 70 families with some units reserved for homeless and disabled veterans.
Council members had expressed interest in partnering with BART to build affordable housing on a 9-acre property the transit agency owns near the skate park. However, since the site would not be available until the end of 2020 and construction likely would not begin until 2022, city staffers urged the council not to reserve funds for a BART project.
