11 families will realize their dream through home ownership
today
Eleven families who as early as today will receive latchkeys to
the houses they poured a year of their life into helping build are
the latest residents of a broader Gilroy community that its
creators believe is one of a kind and which could serve as a
national model.
11 families will realize their dream through home ownership today
Eleven families who as early as today will receive latchkeys to the houses they poured a year of their life into helping build are the latest residents of a broader Gilroy community that its creators believe is one of a kind and which could serve as a national model.
The community, Los Arroyos, has been quietly pieced together on 62 acres since June 1999 on Gilroy’s northwest side to provide 373 dwellings for the developmentally disabled as well as for all income levels and age groups.
“We don’t have a formula, but we have an approach. We believe that it’s in the long-term interest of a community to have a range of housing available to everyone who lives there,” said Dennis Lalor, executive director of South County Housing. “This isn’t a pipe dream. It’s a reality that we found a way to make happen. I’ve talked to counterparts around the country, and as far as we can determine, it’s unique.”
What Lalor is proud of – Los Arroyos – is a community which, when completed next summer, will have 300 single-family houses, 52 apartments for very-low-income families and seniors, 21 apartments for the very-low-income developmentally disabled, a daycare center for 75 children and a 2.5-acre park.
All that remains to be built are 22 attached duet homes and the park.
“It’s a wonderful place, so beautiful. Everyone is so congenial,” said Isabel Valenzuela, 67, who won one of the senior apartments through a lottery conducted by South County Housing.
Returning to the area is like coming home, said Valenzuela, a native of Hollister, who has lived several places around the state. She worked as a state food inspector at Gilroy Foods and as a cook at Hazel Hawkins Hospital in Hollister.
“I really didn’t expect to end up with one of the units when I applied for the lottery in June,” said Valenzuela, who was living in Los Banos at the time.
The key element in the development of Los Arroyos was the overall control of South County Housing, according to Jan Lindenthal, the agency’s director of housing development. The agency acquired all the land before any groundbreaking occurred, she said.
“Sixty percent of the subdivision housing is affordable, unlike private developers who may set aside a handful of affordable units. A non-profit in the driver’s seat made it happen,” Lindenthal said.
Perhaps what is most noticeable about Los Arroyos is what isn’t noticeable. There is no way to distinguish market-rate houses occupied by families earning up to $200,000 a year from one of the sweat-equity units for which buyers contributed their labor in lieu of a down payment.
Forty percent of the 373 dwellings sell for the going rate. Profit from the sale of these units and contributions in the form of loans, grants and partnerships from a range of institutions subsidize the affordable housing.
South County Housing, which incorporated in 1979, spent its first decade building affordable housing in Morgan Hill and Gilroy. It now has projects in San Benito, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties as well.
Remarkably, Lalor notes, Los Arroyos has been created in what is arguably one of the nation’s toughest housing markets.
Nevertheless, Lalor said, Los Arroyos distinguishes itself for three reasons. It offers housing for people living on $700 a month Social Security checks as well as people who earn enough to qualify for the $500,000 to $700,000 market-rate houses. It was built with a modest amount of public subsidy and it looks like a million dollars.
South County Housing has helped a lot of people acquire a house who would otherwise be left out in the cold, Lindenthal said.
“The private housing market isn’t taking care of the people at the bottom of the economic spectrum. In fact, the insanity of the market is shutting out almost everybody, even middle-income people who have good jobs,” Lindenthal said.
Los Arroyos is being built in four phases, with the final segment scheduled for completion next summer. Groundbreaking took place in the summer of 1999 for Phase 1 – 120 single-family house and 21 apartments for very-low-income developmentally disabled people.
Additionally there are 42 houses priced at near market rate, 65 at below market rate and 44 self-help units, of which the 11 soon to be turned over to the owners are the last. The community also includes the Monticelli Apartments – 52 units for very-low-income families and seniors.
The daycare center, owned and operated by Go-Kids, has places for 75 youngsters. A number of places are reserved for Los Arroyos families, with the remainder available to anyone.
All the single-family houses, with exception of the 149 market-rate units, have income restrictions, based on a family of four. Families who qualify for near-market-rate houses may earn no more than 120 percent of the county median income, depending on family size. Buyers of below-market-rate houses can earn from 65 to 80 percent of the median income, while participants in the sweat-equity projects must earn less than 65 percent of the median, or $62,400 for a family of four.
The subsidized units also have deed restrictions that limit the profit owners can realize if they sell. The objective is to keep the units affordable for successive owners, Lalor said. Overall, the homes range from 1,400 to 2,600 square feet.
Funding sources for SCH projects include South Valley National Bank, Union Bank of California, Federal Home Loan Bank, several state agencies, Lenders for Community Development, Enterprise Foundation, Santa Clara County and South County Housing itself.
The City of Gilroy, in contrast to other communities where South County Housing operates, made no monetary contributions to the development of Los Arroyos.
“City officials were supportive and they gave us building allotments (from the pool of permits available). They took a chance on our expertise. That took guts,” Lindenthal said.
In 23 years, South County Housing has built, acquired or rehabilitated more than 1,600 houses and apartments, including for-sale units, rentals and emergency housing. Through a sister corporation, the agency manages or provides support services for nearly 1,000 units.
One of the most popular programs allows low-income buyers to work 40 hours a week under the supervision of a licensed contractor to frame, finish and landscape their houses. Cement work, plumbing, electrical wiring and roofing must be done by licensed contractors.
Labor done by the families – or friends or relatives in their stead – counts as the down payment.
“It was hard work, but we’re so happy to have our own home – our first,” said Sandra Castillo, 32, who with husband, Daniel, 43, and three children — one of the 11 families from the last round of sweat-equity participants — will move into their new house today.
The move from their Hollister rental to the four-bedroom Los Arroyos house will make the commute a breeze for her husband, who works at a Gilroy dental laboratory, Castillo said.
“Even the children are excited. Bertha, 8, and Jose Julian, 7, are talking about how they want to decorate their rooms. Daniela is just 3, but she knows what’s going on,” Castillo said.
South County Housing will continue its present course, but its four-county sphere of operations is about as far as it makes sense to go, Lalor said.
Large expanses of land lend themselves to affordable housing, Lalor said, noting that the Coyote Valley south of San Jose and former Fort Ord in Monterey County remain to be developed.
“We’re interested in making our experience available to others,” Lalor said. “But if others buy into the basic premise that affordable housing for everyone who lives in the community should be done and can be done, we don’t have to be there.”
“We’ve found a solution in our region. Others will have to look for what works in theirs. We build houses, but the real measure of our success is how well we create a sense of community, a concept that existed more widely 40 to 50 years ago,” Lalor said.
But whenever and wherever, Lalor said, “The long-term health of a community depends on its members’ sense of belonging.”
