Santa Clara County Awards $1M to Habitat Renovation

Lourdes remembers how it felt about 16 years ago, when she and her family helped build their Habitat home in Santa Clara. “We had very good times working on the construction site with all the workers, all the volunteers, all the partners, everybody,” she recalled. “We love our house. We take care of it. We can never be thankful enough for Habitat, for the community, for the volunteers, for the partnerships.”

That spirit of collaboration was exactly what brought us together last month in front of the four-unit historic building at Fourth and Reed Streets in San Jose.

Santa Clara County District 2 Supervisor, Cindy Chavez, held a press conference there on the eve of a key Board of Supervisors vote that would have a huge impact on the building behind her. The vote would cement critical loan funding to Habitat East Bay/Silicon Valley, so we can do the massive renovation that will ready four condos for sale to low-income families.

And the following day, May 16^th, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors did just that – they voted to award $1 million in funds from the Measure A Affordable Housing Bond passed in 2016. While much of that funding has been allocated to affordable rental and supportive housing efforts, a portion was intentionally set aside to create opportunities for first-time homebuyers with limited incomes.

The County’s support of our renovation at Fourth and Reed epitomizes the partnerships to which Lourdes referred, and few projects could be more representative of collaborative will. The building awaiting its overhaul is the historic Pallesen Apartments, a Wolfe & McKenzie built in 1910, and not long ago it faced demolition to make way for market-rate housing. The Preservation Action Council of San Jose (PAC*SJ) stepped in to save it, helping raise the funds to move the building to the City-donated site where it now stands.

“Preservation is about saving things that are important to us,” said Mike Sodergren of PAC*SJ. “The community around here just rallied around this.”

Kevin Elliott, Habitat’s Chief Real Estate Officer, agreed. “Families who have been priced far out of the opportunity to own a home here in San Jose – they will be able to purchase their first home through Habitat for Humanity with a stable, affordable mortgage,” he said. “And work like this is only possible because Habitat runs on community. It takes collaboration and collective vision and a lot of hard work and generosity.”

Supervisor Chavez was the architect of Measure A, and seeing its dollars at work in the community was clearly impactful. “This is really exciting to be partnering with Habitat for Humanity,” she said.

Looking behind her, she pointed out that the funding would accomplish four things. One, she said, was replacing what previously stood in this space, a dilapidated structure plagued by repeated fires – “replacing something that was a danger to the security of the neighborhood, and adding new neighbors.” Secondly, it helps the Pallesen to avoid the fate of “so many other historic properties that have been lost in our community. [Instead,] it’s being reinvested in, refurbished, and it will be done with a great deal of love.” Another benefit is that it upholds the promise made to voters through Measure A.

And, fourth: “The last thing I want to say about PAC*SJ and Habitat for Humanity,” added Supervisor Chavez, “is that this is filled with people from our community giving back. It’s part of the reason that I love San Jose, I love Santa Clara County. This is really emblematic of what it means when we come together as a community.”

The Measure A funding is a critical step to taking this historic treasure into its future as homes that four local families will call their own. It is the second Habitat East Bay/Silicon Valley project to be awarded funds through Measure A, following a $4 million award to build 14 new affordable homes on South Jackson Avenue in San Jose. With this award in November 2022, the Supervisors made Habitat East Bay/Silicon Valley the first developer awarded Measure A funds for an affordable ownership development. The construction of these homes will follow the completion of the Fourth and Reed renovation.

The Measure A loans are structured with indefinite interest deferral and 55-year payback periods – generous terms that make it possible for Habitat to get projects shovel-ready and maintain a robust pipeline of future developments.

“This goes so far beyond the walls and windows that we’ll build here,” said Kevin. “This is families with secure, stable homes and a community they can count on. This is children with quiet places to study. Parents with peace of mind, focusing on investing in the future rather than just making the month’s rent. Neighbors living in and near the communities where they work. This is impact that ripples out for generations.”