Press Releases

Google and Housing Trust Silicon Valley Announce Loan to Charities Housing for Affordable Units

$17.2M in Funding to Purchase Over 2 Acres of Land for 160 Units of Affordable Housing in Santa Clara Count

San Jose, CA – March 2, 2022 – Housing Trust Silicon Valley, a nonprofit community loan fund, announced today a loan for the acquisition of 2.22 acres at 57 and 67 E. Evelyn Avenue, Mountain View, California. The currently envisioned project, which will be developed and managed by Charities Housing, will create approximately 160 units of affordable family housing.

Google has formally partnered with Housing Trust Silicon Valley in the form of their Launch Initiative, which improves Housing Trust’s lending capacity and facilitates their investment in a broader range of affordable housing projects. This land acquisition loan is funded by the Launch Initiative and leverages funds from Santa Clara County’s Measure A, Affordable Housing bond.

“We are excited to partner with Google and Charities Housing to make affordable housing widely accessible,” said Noni Ramos, CEO, Housing Trust. “This partnership allows us to realize our mission of creating safe, stable, and affordable housing solutions for those experiencing homelessness, for renters, and for first-time home buyers.”

“With the Bay Area’s severe housing shortage of nearly 500,000 affordable homes, we’re focused on helping increase the affordable housing supply as quickly as possible,” said Javier González, Google’s Head of Local Government Affairs & Public Policy in California. “This is our home and as we continue to grow, we’re committed to working with Housing Trust and Charities Housing, as well as other organizations, to help our community solve challenging problems.” 

“This project speaks to our mission to provide long-term, sustainable resources for addressing our housing crisis,” said Consuelo Hernandez, the County of Santa Clara’s Director of Supportive Housing. “It can take five years or longer to go from acquiring a property to completing construction. This investment in the early, predevelopment phase is part of our strategic plan to develop a robust housing pipeline to end homelessness in Santa Clara County.”

“Our vision for these apartments is to positively contribute to the Mountain View community and provide housing for everyone,” said Kathy Robinson, Director of Housing Development, Charities Housing. “We believe that healthy communities are the basis for thriving communities, and we hope to make this a reality with every one of our affordable housing developments.”

Most recently, Launch Initiative has helped fund Eden Housing’s La Avenida in Mountain View, USA Properties Fund and The Pinyon Group’s Tasman East in Santa Clara, and BRIDGE Housing’s Potrero development in San Francisco.  

About Housing Trust Silicon Valley

Housing Trust Silicon Valley (Housing Trust) is a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) based in San Jose that works to improve the quality of life for low to moderate -income people in the greater Bay Area by increasing affordable housing opportunities. Since 2000, Housing Trust has invested nearly $468 million in programs that help everyone from the homeless to renters to first-time homebuyers – creating nearly 25,000 affordable housing opportunities serving 45,850 of our neighbors. It is the first nonprofit 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 Charities Housing

Charities Housing’s mission is to develop, preserve and manage the highest quality affordable housing for extremely low and very low-income individuals, families and those in our community with special needs. For nearly 30 years, through service enhanced property management and structured resident involvement, Charities Housing fosters and supports the highest standards of human dignity in our communities. 

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