$24M in state funds to help build 107 affordable housing units in Ventura, Fillmore

A Central Coast affordable housing nonprofit received nearly $24 million in state funds this month to help build 107 affordable housing units at two Ventura County sites: College Community Courts in Ventura and Fillmore Terrace in Fillmore.

People’s Self-Help Housing was awarded the funds during the second round of one of the state's rental housing funding programs.

In these recent awards, approximately 51 communities across California accepted nearly $523.8 million to build 4,018 homes that will be affordable long term. The overall funding was made possible through Proposition 1, which passed in 2018 and has created an investment of $1.2 billion and 10,300 homes to date.

“A crisis of homelessness decades in the making can only be addressed if we create efficiencies to build more affordable housing faster,” said Gustavo Velasquez, the director of the California Department of Housing and Community Development, in a news release from People's Self-Help.

Both Ventura County projects will have units dedicated to farmworker households. Additionally, Fillmore Terrace is only the second affordable housing community with dedicated farmworker family units in the city, said Veronica Z. Garcia, People's Self-Help chief real estate development officer.

She added that the only previous development with dedicated farmworker family units in Fillmore, the Central Station, was funded in 2008.

"In Ventura County, we know there are at least 40,000 farmworkers and many really struggle to find affordable, accessible, safe housing," Garcia said. "That was even more amplified during the pandemic. Farmworker families were having to double up or live in unpermitted garages."

Total project costs are nearly $42 million for Ventura and $44 million for Fillmore, and 40% to 60% of the cost will ideally be covered by tax credit awards.

Garcia said that the latest state funds were the penultimate piece of the financing puzzle, and the nonprofit is now submitting its tax credit applications for both projects. The final amount is subject to the tax credit investor who is secured when a project receives a tax credit award.

'A single income earner can't find a place to live'

College Community Courts at 4300 Telegraph Road will get more than $12 million through the state funding.

The property is owned by the College Ministry Center at the United Methodist Church near Ventura College. People's Self-Help will lease the church land and will be the project developer as well as future property manager and resident services provider.

The project will provide 57 new one-, two-, and three-bedroom units for low-income families, farmworker households, people with disabilities and people transitioning out of homelessness.

"We're seeing people who are working and have jobs but don't have a home," Garcia said.

"So, like our project in San Luis Obispo, we had units designated for homeless households. And one of the examples that we were able to help, unfortunately, was a single mom and her daughter who were unhoused. A single income earner cannot find a place to live, 30% of area median income is $31,000."

The city of Ventura has also helped accelerate the project with around $500,000 in federal Community Development Block Grants and over $570,000 in a deferred impact fee loan, which was approved on April 9 by the City Council.

Garcia said the Ventura development is also exempt from certain state environmental requirements for which the process can typically take around 18 months and can cost around $250,000.

"Having 57 units come online in our community impacts those who are what we consider cost- or rent-burdened," said Ventura's housing services manager Leona Rollins.

"They will be able to pay other fees. They won't have to make difficult decisions in terms of other issues like food, medical expenses, school expenses. We have to do everything that we can to assist people."

What does Fillmore need?

Fillmore Terrace is expected to have 50 new units similarly designated for low-income individuals and families, including farmworkers, those living with disabilities and 13 homes for people who are homeless or at risk of losing their housing.

People's Self-Help received over $11 million to add to the financing package for Fillmore Terrace, which will be centrally located to downtown Fillmore.

The site will cover a full city block and muliple parces at or around 210 Palm St. The project is located between Highway 126 and Santa Clara Street between Palm Street and a nearby alley.

Kevin McSweeney, Fillmore's planning and community development director, said that affordable housing being built in the city does not necessarily target city residents because they usually don't qualify for the state's income-based eligibility criteria.

"They make a little bit too much money, like maybe $100 a month too much. Or maybe $200 too much," McSweeney said. "So when we've been building these affordable units, and we built a considerable amount of them, very few Fillmore citizens get accepted into it."

He added that the projects do satisfy a need throughout the county and people who have previously moved here from other places have been good citizens despite negative connotations and stereotypes attached to low-income communities.

The state funding resource aiding these projects essentially streamlined four of the state's housing agency's rental housing programs to allow for a coordinated single application and award process, which aims to fast-track new projects while saving time and money.

Dua Anjum is an investigative and watchdog reporter for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at dua.anjum@vcstar.com. This story was made possible by a grant from the Ventura County Community Foundation's Fund to Support Local Journalism.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: $24M granted for 107 affordable housing units in county