Housing Authority Announces $40M Deal To Acquire Palo Alto Mobile Home Park
PALO ALTO (CBS SF) -- After four months of negotiations, the Santa Clara County Housing Authority Thursday announced an agreement to acquire a Palo Alto mobile home park for more than $40 million, allowing roughly 400 low-income residents to stay in their homes.
If formally approved by the housing authority's board of commissioners during their meeting on May 23, the $43,375,000 purchase will be funded by a three-way partnership between Santa Clara County, the city of Palo Alto and the housing authority.
According to the housing authority, the city and county have committed $29 million in affordable housing funds and the housing commission will use U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to close the gap.
"This is an extraordinary opportunity to preserve affordable housing for low-income residents, including at least 100 children, in a city where it is desperately needed," Palo Alto Mayor Greg Scharff said in a statement. "Palo Alto's commitment of affordable housing funds to this project are well spent."
The deal to purchase the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park is expected to go through by early fall, after part of the parcel is sub-divided for commercial use. That piece of land will be retained by the current owner.
"From the beginning of this effort we've had three goals: to preserve over 100 units of desperately needed affordable housing; to prevent the eviction of 400 low-income residents, folks who truly have nowhere else to go; and to ensure that the current property owner receives full and fair market value for the property," Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian said.
"With today's announcement we can celebrate the realization of all three goals," Simitian said. "All of this happened because so many good folks had the grit, the determination, and the decency to make it happen."
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