DEVELOPMENT
Stockton ’ s downtown is in the middle of a transformation , too . Under a new economic plan in January 2022 , city leaders are using money from the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to invest in improvements such as better lighting , treescapes and business facades , all in an effort to create a neighborhood feel downtown .
But a neighborhood needs people , and one part of that is Grand View Village , 75 units of workforce housing being built by affordable developer Visionary Home Builders on East Miner Avenue between North Hunter and North San Joaquin Streets .
What makes the project unique is its 10,000 square feet of commercial and community space on the ground floor , including a school and a critically needed grocery store , says Carrie Wright , the city ’ s director of economic development . Grand View is just part of the diversity of housing types the city wants downtown , says Wright — it ’ s also
negotiating with developers on construction of 400 new units of workforce and market rate housing at a property called South Pointe on the far west side of downtown .
“ It ’ s a lot easier to develop in green space than do infill development , but our general plan encourages infill , so Grand View fits that ,” says Wright .
Lower-income seniors may be the most critical demographic
Older adults are the fastest-growing age group among California ’ s homeless population , according to national nonprofit Justice in Aging . In 1978 a group of Petaluma clergy and civic leaders , appalled to find elderly residents living in garages , storage units and tents , started the nonprofit affordable developer Petaluma Ecumenical Properties to tackle the problem .
Several years ago PEP , now based in Santa Rosa , saw a need for senior housing in Vacaville . The city “ is in
dire need of affordable housing , and seniors are the number one group ,” says PEP Director of Development Jim Wallen . So the organization entered an agreement to buy a piece of cityowned property to construct a building with 59 one-bedroom apartments for older citizens .
PEP ran into multiple setbacks in building the fragile tower of capital needed to move forward with such projects . They applied for state tax credits but were turned down several times . That would have killed the effort had PEP not learned that the state had $ 563 million in leftover high-speed rail bonds that the state treasurer had converted to use for housing . PEP applied for and got the last tranche of that money , says PEP executive director Mary Stompe . And Vacaville provided loans plus 59 housing choice vouchers .
That wasn ’ t the end of it . FEMA ’ s flood maps required them to elevate the property , and they had to bring
1922-2022 CELEBRATES 100 YEARS OF KFBK NEWS RADIO
Bringing you the news and why it matters … for 100 years .
KFBK NEWS RADIO ’ S 100TH ANNIVERSARY SEPTEMBER 17TH
GET TICKETS TO THE KFBK 100TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION ! VISIT KFBK100YEARS . COM FOR TICKET INFO AND PURCHASE .
@ KFBKSACRAMENTO
58 comstocksmag . com | September 2022