Grover Beach affordable housing project gets $10 million. What will it look like?
.jpg "Cleaver & Clark Commons, a People’s Self-Help Housing affordable housing development at 1206 W. Grand Ave in Grover Beach, will break ground in 2023 and open around spring 2025. People’s Self-Help Housing recently received a $10.8 million award from the California Department of Housing & Community Development to build the development.")
An affordable housing project in Grover Beach is getting $10 million in state funding.
The California Department of Housing & Community Development awarded People’s Self-Help Housing a total of $10,851,831 for its first affordable housing development in the South County city.
The Grover Beach project was one of more than 70 projects to receive awards Feb. 6 from the first round of funding for multifamily housing, the HCD said.
Ken Trigueiro, president and CEO of People’s Self-Help Housing, said the state funding will be used to build Cleaver & Clark Commons — a 53-unit affordable housing development — at 1206 W. Grand Ave.
“It’s actually the first time ever that (People’s Self-Help Housing) has developed something in Grover (Beach) proper, so that’s exciting as well,” Triguiero said. “We’ve been trying for a while.”
Affordable housing project planned for Grover Beach
Cleaver & Clark Commons will be constructed as two buildings on two neighboring plots of land donated by People’s Self-Help Housing and the city of Grover Beach totaling 1.5 acres, Triguiero said.
“The city was super supportive,” he said.
The development will be made up of 24 one-bedroom units, 15 two-bedroom units and 14 three-bedroom units.
One key to success in multifamily housing projects is “the inclusion of a community building and outdoor recreation,” Trigueiro told The Tribune in an email.
The Cleaver & Clark Commons development will feature two community rooms for resident use located in both buildings, totaling 1,950 square feet, Triguiero said.
These community rooms will host events, meetings and educational services, along with administrative offices, Triguiero said, and will include a kitchen area and multipurpose space.
The community room in one building connects to approximately 5,750 square feet of common outdoor courtyard space featuring “shaded seating areas, picnic tables, community garden beds, grassy area, BBQ areas and two play spaces: one for tots and the other a multi-purpose sport court for the older children,” Triguiero said.
These spaces can also be used to accommodate educational opportunities from Cuesta College or Cal Poly, he said.
Bike parking areas will be provided “to help promote active lifestyles and sustainable transportation method,” Triguiero said.
Who will live at Grand Avenue development?
Clark & Cleaver Commons will serve clients who earn between 30% and 60% of the area median income, Triguiero said.
The development will open its doors to clients who qualified for housing on People’s Self-Help Housing’s waitlist, Triguiero said, which is currently at around 8,300 households across the county.
The people on the waitlist “needed (homes) yesterday,” Triguiero said.
According to the People’s Self-Help Housing CEO, Cleaver & Clark Commons will have a final price tag of around $25 million.
Triguiero said additional investments from a bank and the Housing Authority of San Luis Obispo (HASLO) will comprise the remaining funding, along with federal tax credits and other state funding People’s Self-Help Housing will apply for later this year.
“We’ll ask for about an allocation of about $20 more million or so from the tax credit system,” Triguiero said. “The investor is not yet identified, but it’s most likely a conventional bank that we normally sell tax credit allocations to.”
HASLO will commit housing vouchers to the property, Triguiero said, which guarantees the development will stay affordable going forward.
In some cases, Section 8 housing vouchers are assigned to individual tenants and can be used wherever the vouchers are accepted. Property-based vouchers can help keep rents low because they’re assigned to units, not people, he said.
Construction on Clark & Cleaver Commons is anticipated to begin late this year once the remaining funding streams have been secured, Triguiero said.
The development is slated to open its doors in spring 2025.
This story was originally published February 15, 2023 at 5:30 AM.
