‘This is mine?’ New 40-unit affordable housing complex opens in San Luis Obispo
After four decades of life as something of a nomad, Anthony Chapman is finally putting down roots in San Luis Obispo.
Instantly recognizable to San Luis Obispo residents as the saxophone-wielding street musician who frequently plays at the corner of Higuera and Garden streets, Chapman has lived in San Luis Obispo County in his vehicle for around a decade.
That all changed when Chapman, 44, was accepted to the newly-opened Broad Street Place affordable housing development in San Luis Obispo.
“When I first got this place — when they opened the door — I was like, ‘This is mine?’” Chapman said Tuesday morning at project’s grand opening. “I’ve never had this before, but it’s changed my life so much.”
Chapman said he’s no stranger to traveling, growing up in a military family that moved from place to place before joining the military himself in 1998.
After finishing his service, Chapman said he drove trucks, went on extensive bike trips and later traveled with Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus, eventually settling in San Luis Obispo County in his vehicle a decade ago.
Chapman’s new apartment is one of 40 affordable units housed in the Broad Street Place complex, which also includes three commercial spaces that have yet to be filled, People’s Self-Help Housing CEO Ken Triguiero told The Tribune.
“We are fully full, and we had way more applicants than we had units,” Triguiero said, noting that anyone still interested should apply and get on the organization’s waitlist.
Project serves military, disabled households
The three-story development on Broad Street sits on a 1.36-acre plot of land, and consist of 40 units that can serve residents making anywhere between 20% to 60% of the area median income, People’s Self-Help Housing chief real estate development officer Veronica Garcia said.
The project contains studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom units, and features amenities such as a community center, barbecue area, patio, laundry facility, covered bike storage, electric vehicle charging stations and supportive services, according to People’s Self-Help Housing’s website.
At the very lowest end, rents start at around $434 for a household making 20% of the area median income, going as high as $1,800 a month for a three-bedroom for a household making 60% of the AMI, Garcia said.
Work on the project started in early 2020 at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and weathered the following three years of inflation, supply chain problems and construction delays, Triguiero said.
“The construction took longer than it would have if it weren’t for COVID, but fortunately, we had a lot of great local subcontractors that were on the site and pushed through,” Triguiero said. “Many are here today because they not only appreciated the work, but they appreciate what we do and the benefit that they see to the community.”
Residents first started moving into the building in late October 2023 as the finishing touches were put on the structure, he said.
Garcia said five of the project’s units were permanently dedicated to housing adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities through a California Department of Developmental Services investment.
During his speech, Triguiero said another 10 units were dedicated to veterans in the California Veteran’s Housing and Homelessness Prevention Program, which collaborated with People’s Self-Help Housing on the project.
Residents Cheyenne and Tyshawn Sobers and their 7-year-old son have called one of the two-bedroom units home since October. They were able to apply with the help of the Veteran’s Housing and Homelessness Prevention Program.
Tyshawn Sobers experiences post traumatic stress related to an injury sustained during his service in the Army in 2012, and has been unable to work the past four years due to his mental and physical injuries, Cheyenne Sobers told The Tribune.
Cheyenne Sobers said the family was matched to the new development after an affordable home fell through due to racial discrimination against her husband, who is Black.
“It’s extremely hard to find anything that’s affordable,” Cheyenne said. “I’ve found that a lot of people are OK with veterans, but they’re not so much OK with Black veterans, so finding somebody that was more understanding of the community for my husband was so important.”
Local leaders show support for affordable housing
The event was attended by members of the San Luis Obispo City Council, District 3 Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg, along with representatives of State Sen. John Laird, State Rep. Dawn Addis and Congressman Salud Carbajal.
Ortiz-Legg said it was good to see projects that serve veterans and people with disabilities coming to fruition after several years of planning.
She praised People’s Self-Help Housing’s collaboration with Cal Poly professors and students, who helped initiate project concepts, and thanked local construction firms and unions that helped get the project built for their help.
Ortiz-Legg said she was excited to see what would grow in the three commercial spaces.
“Local business is the backbone of our economy, and so if People’s Self-Help can provide lower rent to local businesses, it’s a great combination,” Ortiz-Legg said.
San Luis Obispo Mayor Erica Stewart said the project’s opening, along with the recently-announced renovation of a San Luis Obispo Motel 6 into affordable housing, represented a “huge” step in the right direction for affordable housing in the city.
“When we’re looking at housing,” she said, “one of the challenges we always see is that we need to have wraparound services to support the person who lives here with everything they need to have their success in their daily life,” Stewart said.
This story was originally published January 31, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
