California Housing Accelerator Program grants $22 million for West Sacramento affordable housing project

A West Sacramento affordable housing project will move forward after the city received a $22 million award out of $953 million of California state funds allocated for affordable housing projects.

The West Gateway Phase 2 project became possible because of the California Housing Accelerator program.

“We are in desperate need of affordable housing for those that have very low income,” West Sacramento mayor Martha Guerrero, according to KCRA-TV.

“We received $22 million and we will need to contribute a little more to make sure we can get all the funding for the construction of this project,” she said. “And that will come out of the city funding sources.”

To qualify for funding, the project must house people experiencing homelessness and those making below 30 percent of the area median income.

“The planned developments must be “shovel-ready” and they are also projects that were otherwise unable to begin construction because of a shortage of federal tax credits and bonds,” the broadcaster reported.

The accelerator awards give projects like this so-called “bridge funding.”

“It simplifies the financing plan for the project,” said Jack Gardner, president  and CEO of The John Stewart Company whose project, The Cannery at Railroad Square in Santa Rosa, also received a funding award. “It streamlines it, and allows us to start construction and get these units into service much more quickly.”

Guerrero said the West Gateway Place Phase 2 development will need final approval from the city council. She expects that vote to take place in March or April with shovels possibly going into the ground by the end of Spring 2022.