Affordable housing for veterans breaks ground near Menlo Park VA hospital
Dozens of local leaders, funders and developers of the project gathered to celebrate the beginning of construction for Oak Gardens, a 62-unit housing complex on Chapel Lane at the Veterans Affairs campus that is home to the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Medical Center-Menlo Park.
"Seeing that the ground has been broken, it really is a testament to what we can do in partnership with the federal government, the state, the county, and the city," said Abby Goldware Potluri, senior vice president and co-head of housing development at MidPen Housing.
MidPen Housing, a non-profit developer of affordable housing in Northern California is in charge of developing the project. It has previously developed several affordable housing sites in Menlo Park.
Of the 62 apartment units, 55 will be reserved for veteran households experiencing homelessness.
In San Mateo County, 12% of the homeless population are veterans. Yet they make up only 6% of the adult population
Veteran households that make between 30% and 50% of the Area Median Income , or AMI, will be eligible for a spot. The AMI for San Mateo County in 2024 for a single person household was $130,600.
Therefore, veterans seeking a single apartment for one are eligible if they make between $41,150 and $68,550 per year. A breakdown of income eligibility by family size can be found at https://www.smcgov.org/media/149102/download?inline=.
Prices will range from $950 to $2,240 for one, two, and three bedroom apartments.
Oak Gardens will not only provide below market rate housing but a supportive community offering services such as case management, life skills development, computer learning, employment preparation, and financial literacy.
"The current housing market in the Bay Area makes it almost impossible for someone just coming out of a program like the Homeless Veteran's Reintegration Program to find a place to live," said Jean Gurga, executive medical center director at VA Palo Alto Health Care. "With Oak Gardens, that becomes a little bit easier through enhanced use leases.
The VA has an Enhanced Use Lease Program which allows the VA to lease underutilized VA land for the purpose of developing supportive housing for veterans.
"One of the hardest impediments we face to build housing is the land," said District 3 Supervisor Ray Mueller of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors. "That you're willing to share it and lease it is an incredible thing."
The VA Palo Alto campus in Menlo Park is federal land. The city of Menlo Park identified the 2-acre lot on the campus as an opportunity site for below market rate housing.
Project construction is estimated to cost $35 million. Funding is being drawn from multiple public and private sources such as the city of Menlo Park, San Mateo County, Housing Trust Silicon Valley, and First Citizens Bank.
Construction is expected to be completed in Spring 2026.
Mueller acknowledged the steep challenges to get affordable housing built when community members push back. He said he thought that getting the go-ahead for Oak Gardens was probably easier since people may be more sympathetic to veterans experiencing homelessness.
"It is difficult to build affordable housing, it's difficult to build it anywhere," Mueller said.
"Everyone needs housing. Every family needs housing. While their service to our country might make it easier for people to understand that, everyone has a place in our society and needs a place to sleep," he said.
Both Mueller and Menlo Park Mayor Drew Combs used the groundbreaking as an opportunity to emphasize their beliefs that affordable housing should be able to pop up everywhere, regardless of for whom it is being built.
The development will fall within District 2, which Combs represents on the city council.
"My hope is that this project represents a testament that affordable housing should be built everywhere in our community," Combs said.
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