Funding gap nearly killed SLO affordable housing site. Now it’s getting a big boost
San Luis Obispo County is one step closer to gaining another affordable housing development.
The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday to give $1.4 million to support the development of the Orcutt Road Apartments, an affordable housing project for people with disabilities, people experiencing homelessness or people at risk of homelessness.
“This project provides permanent supportive housing to those who are struggling,” said Scott Collins, the executive director of the Housing Authority of San Luis Obispo. “It gets them out of the encampments, out of transitional and into permanent housing where they can begin to heal and make progress in their lives.”
The development, located at 736 Orcutt Road in San Luis Obispo, will include 39 affordable housing units for tenants earning 30% to 40% of the area median income, the staff report said.
The Housing Authority of San Luis Obispo will manage the project, and construction should start in February, Collins said.
The development is located on the site of the former Maxine Lewis Memorial Shelter, so “it is ideally situated near core services, such as food and transit and supportive services resources,” Collins said.
SLO County reroutes funding to Orcutt Road development
Prior to the vote, the Orcutt Road development was “shovel ready,” but the housing authority hadn’t gotten enough funding to start construction, according to the staff report.
The project had a $2.3 million funding gap created by increased construction costs and insufficient funding from outside sources, according to a letter from HASLO to the county.
Meanwhile, HASLO was required to prove that the project had adequate funding to start construction by Jan. 22 or risk losing $11,172,101 in annual federal tax credits allocated to the development, the letter said.
As a result, the housing authority asked the county for a $1,430,000 grant of American Rescue Plan Act money to help close the gap in funding. The organization was also prepared to pledge more of its own funding to the project, and planned to receive a $300,000 grant from the city of San Luis Obispo, too, the letter said.
HASLO offered to return a nearly $2 million grant of American Rescue Plan Act funding to the county that was originally designated for an affordable housing project in Arroyo Grande.
Challenges with funding delayed the Arroyo Grande project, but Collins said the housing authority was in the process of acquiring more funding and planned to eventually build the development.
The board agreed to re-route $1.4 million of that funding to the Orcutt Road development.
“This is really fantastic that we’re now able to shift gears and we’re able to support this project,” Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg said.
