From what I can see, the developer did everything right with this project, it's nice to see. It looks like it will be a good addition to the area.

Does MV really support a “diverse and caring community” like they say they do? This week they made their answer clear when they put up signs displacing RV residents while simultaneously approving a Castro Park building project that does little to expand affordable housing. The new building proposal approved in Castro park will designate only 4 of 25 rental units to be deed-restricted for below market rate. 4/25 affordable units are simply not enough when the SF Chronicle recently found there is 1 home available per 1,206 residents who make between $100,000 and $125,000 annually. According to the Bay Area’s Regional Housing Determination Needs Report from 2020, the total housing need is more than 114,000 units for the over 25% of Bay Area residents who qualify as “very low income.” At least a quarter of the new units should be deed-restricted for below market rate.

@Abby, great comment. People who care about affordable housing for low-income and average wage-earners (i.e, households who earn less than $150K according to 2019 Census Data) need to pay attention to the number of BMR units created in every housing project.

“The new building proposal approved in Castro park will designate only 4 of 25 rental units to be deed-restricted for below market rate.”

4/25 = 16%

FYI: “The Housing and Neighborhoods Division administers housing programs for extremely low to moderate income renters and homebuyers … The City, along with other investors, provides funding to subsidize the rents in the affordable apartment developments. There are currently 1,197 subsidized apartments in Mountain View … BMR rental and ownership units are incorporated into some new market rate developments, where between 15-25% of the units may be affordable. ” - Web Link

So the existing “requirement” in MV is that between 15-25% units are affordable. But it is more like a “goal”. 16% meets these arguably insufficient standards.

Data shows developers wildly prefer building market-rate housing over housing for the poorest and/or average residents. Over the last RHNA cycle, 2015-2023, permit issue statistics show that 7,082 out of 8,078 permits were targeted for those earning >120% of Area Median Income (about $175K, according to 2019 census data). Web Link

7,082/8,078 = 88%, which means that over the past eight year cycle, a whopping 12% of permits were for more “affordable” units. Not even 15%!

No legislation has been passed to change this situation going forward, despite all of the hullabaloo re “affordable housing” bills like SB9/SB10. The public is being conned.

Kudos to you, Abby, for paying attention to the number of BMR units created in this new housing project.

There is no such thing as affordable housing. It's called subsidized housing. That's like saying there's affordable money. We should build an affordable grocery store and an affordable auto mall next haha