homes , requires its buyers to contribute 500 hours of sweat equity and makes available 30-year zero-interest mortgages . The group raised money from corporate and individual donors and got about $ 1.7 million from Sacramento County , plus in-kind support from the Sacramento Municipal Utility District to make the homes all-electric and provide EV charging stations .
Habitat CEO Leah Miller says the project is an example of what can happen when organizations stop worrying about territory . “ I think if we could let down our guard a little bit and say , ‘ This is what we do and let me learn a little bit about what you do — how can we work together to leverage that ?’ we could do so much more ,” she says .
Infill affordable : Harder to build but a bigger impact
It ’ s one thing to break ground on new land at the city ’ s edge and another to repurpose an empty lot downtown . The second
is more complicated and expensive — and critically important to some jurisdictions ’ goals of cutting homelessness while reducing commute times and sprawl , promoting sustainability , and spurring downtown development .
One of those jurisdictions is West Sacramento , and the building at 1801 West Capitol illustrates its goals . It ’ s the city ’ s first permanent supportive housing project , meaning it ’ s designed for people exiting homelessness . Built by nonprofit developer Mercy Housing California , its 85 units opened in December 2021 .
In a permanent supportive model , tenants get not just a place to live but also help for issues that homelessness often worsens , like mental health treatment , independent living skills and employment . A 2020 UC San Francisco study found that the approach results in almost 90 percent of recipients leaving the streets permanently .
Funding for the West Capitol project came from every layer of government ,
says Aaron Laurel , city manager and port CEO . The city contributed the land . The county pitched in money from No Place Like Home , a state program funded at the county level . The state provided tax credits and bonds . And Sutter Health and Partnership Health- Plan of California pitched in $ 1 million each , part of an effort to cut down on emergency room visits by getting people into permanent homes .
Beyond funding , infill projects need help from local government to make them feasible for developers . In West Sacramento , that ’ s meant the city acquiring lots to create bigger parcels , cleaning up brown fields so developers don ’ t have to , and building centralized parking so they don ’ t need to build their own , says Laurel . Infill affordable projects may not have the dazzle of a new waterfront development — though West Sac has that too — but they ’ re an essential part of how the city wants to grow , he says .
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September 2022 | comstocksmag . com 57