The California Department of Housing and Community Development has announced two awards to the City of Santa Monica for future affordable housing production.
The first is an award of $5 million from the California Local Housing Trust Program (LHTF). The program provides a State match to qualifying local housing trust funds. The City was awarded the maximum amount in recognition of existing local trust funds, as well as the City’s financial commitments to affordable housing in the pipeline. The second is an award of $547,516 from the Permanent Local Housing Allocation program for the current year and approximately $3.3 million over five years.
“Affordable housing, always a precious resource, has become even more necessary as greater numbers of our community suffer the financial hardships brought on by the pandemic. We are pleased that the state recognizes us as a partner in our collective pursuit to address California’s affordability crisis, and we thank HCD for this much appreciated contribution to our affordable housing trust fund that will offer stability to Santa Monicans,” said Mayor Sue Himmelrich in response to the funds.
Both sources of funding will be combined with the City’s housing trust funds to facilitate three affordable housing developments currently in the pipeline, including the preservation of 40 affordable residences in the Pico neighborhood and the construction of new affordable housing for young adults and other persons experiencing homelessness.