Public Support Grows for Affordable Housing

Effective November 14, Randy Tsuda will become president/CEO of Palo Alto Housing.

PALO ALTO, CA—Silicon Valley and the Bay Area as a whole continue to add significantly more jobs than housing. Since 2010, Silicon Valley employment has increased by 29%, yet housing has increased by only 4%, a major factor in the housing affordability crisis, says Randy Tsuda, community development director of Mountain View.

To stem this tide, Palo Alto Housing, developer and manager of low- and moderate-income housing in the Bay Area, recently won 9% tax credits for a new affordable apartment community for low-income families and veterans. The developer is slated to break ground on .59 acres in February 2019 at 2821 El Camino Real in Redwood City, the site of a former Enterprise Rent-A-Car lot. Plans call for 67 studio and one-bedroom apartments for households with incomes between 30% and 60% of the area median income. In addition, its latest project in Palo Alto at 3703 El Camino Real was just rezoned to an affordable housing-combining district. The planning commission unanimously approved the rezoning on September 26.