The Sonoma County Housing Fund – a collaborative effort between the Santa Rosa Metro Chamber and nonprofit community development financial institution (CDFI) Housing Trust Silicon Valley – is proud to announce the first three loans for critically needed affordable homes. The three separate developments – Siesta Senior Apartments in Sonoma, Stony Point Flats and Acme Apartments – both in Santa Rosa – will bring over 200 affordable homes to the region.
The combined amount lent by the Sonoma County Housing Fund for the three developments is $3.64 million. Siesta Senior Apartments, led by developer Pacific Housing, will be comprised of over 90 homes. Stony Point Flats by Phoenix Development and Integrity Housing is expected to bring 50 affordable homes, while Acme Apartments by Milestone Housing/Pacific Housing will be made up of 77 homes. All 200-plus units will be aimed toward residents who earn up to 60% of the area median income (AMI) of the region.
Housing Trust and the Santa Rosa Metro Chamber established the partnership in 2019 to help create affordable housing in Sonoma County, which saw the need for affordable homes swell in the aftermath of the Tubbs Fire in late 2017.
“Creating safe and secure affordable homes quickly means collaborating with effective partners,” said Noni Ramos, CEO of Housing Trust Silicon Valley. “We’re proud this alliance with the Santa Rosa Metro Chamber is helping bring residents of Sonoma County home. The work of the Sonoma County Housing Fund is just at the beginning and we’re looking forward and excited to make further investments in this region’s future.”
“The Santa Rosa Metro Chamber really gets that housing for all income levels is critical for our economic well-being,” said Jen Klose, Executive Director of Generation Housing, a housing advocacy nonprofit in Sonoma County. “We’re fortunate in Sonoma County – many places don’t have the business community so invested and supportive of affordable housing development. Kudos to the Chamber of Commerce stepping up for affordable housing.”
“The loan from the Sonoma County Housing Fund has been instrumental in allowing us to complete the predevelopment work for Stony Point Flats,” said Loren Brueggemann, Principal of Phoenix Development Company. “There is a significant cost to bringing a Project to a state of construction readiness and the Fund allowed us to proceed at a much quicker pace than if we would have had to raise funds within the private marketplace.”
“I’m thrilled that within a year we were able to take a significant investment from the Kaiser Foundation and turn it into housing for people who so desperately need it in our community,” said Peter Rumble, CEO of the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce. “We couldn’t have done this without the partnership with Housing Trust Silicon Valley and Kaiser’s support. With these results, I’m hopeful we will be able to raise even more capital for the Sonoma County Housing Fund so we can build on this success.”
ABOUT SONOMA COUNTY HOUSING FUND
Sonoma County Housing Fund (SCHF) is a joint $10 million initiative of the Santa Rosa Metro Chamber (SRMC) and Housing Trust Silicon Valley. Leveraging each other’s strengths, expertise, and local relationships, SCHF will finance critically needed affordable housing in the Sonoma County region. Housing Trust will underwrite, approve, and administer loans while the Santa Rosa Metro Chamber is the local contact responsible for securing and deploying local investments to assist with the affordable housing partnership.
ABOUT HOUSING TRUST SILICON VALLEY
Housing Trust Silicon Valley (Housing Trust) is a nonprofit community loan fund based in San Jose that works to improve the quality of life for low-income people in the greater Bay Area by increasing affordable housing opportunities. Since 2000, Housing Trust has invested nearly $335 million in programs that help everyone from the homeless to renters to first-time homebuyers – creating nearly 20,700 affordable housing opportunities serving 36,000 of our neighbors. It is the first nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) to receive a Standard & Poor’s rating, AA- because of its strong capacity to meet financial commitments. For more information visit www.housingtrustsv.org
ABOUT SANTA ROSA METRO CHAMBER
Born out of the rubble of the 1906 earthquake, the Santa Rosa Metro Chamber is the leading voice for business in the North Bay region. Through advocacy, education and workforce development programs, and industry and small business development, the Santa Rosa Metro Chamber strives to create a vibrant community for its members, as well as the residents and visitors to Sonoma County. More than a membership organization, the Santa Rosa Metro Chamber provides a vision and the leadership to achieve increased, shared prosperity for everyone in the region – from each member to every program and volunteer, the Santa Rosa Metro Chamber is shaping the future of living and doing business in the place we call home. For more information visit www.santarosametrochamber.com
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Contact:
Michael Norris, Communications Manager, Housing Trust Silicon Valley michael@housingtrustsv.org 408-436-3450 x 241
Peter Rumble, CEO, Santa Rosa Metro Chamber peterr@santarosametrochamber.com 707-545-1477