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A new fully affordable apartment building just opened in Mountain View, making it the first of its kind in North Bayshore and the latest housing development north of Highway 101.
The 100-unit residential development is located at the corner of La Avenida Avenue and Armand Drive, a part of the city that is well known for its Microsoft and Google tech campuses.
Dubbed the La Avenida Apartments, the four-story building is geared towards serving very low and low-income individuals and families, or those earning between 30% and 60% of the area median income. The area median income for a household of four in Santa Clara County is $195,200.
“We’ve been talking about doing housing in North Bayshore for decades, and this project advances Mountain View’s vision for a vibrant neighborhood and complete community that is affordable for families and households across different incomes,” said Mayor Ellen Kamei, who spoke at the grand opening on Friday, June 6.
The event drew a crowd of local dignitaries who touted the $71.9 million development as a critical step to helping solve the region’s affordable housing crisis.
“La Avenida Apartments ensures our most vulnerable populations, low-income workers, veterans, people with disabilities and seniors on fixed incomes can continue to live and work in Mountain View,” said state Assembly member Marc Berman.
Of the 100 apartment units, 63 are studios, 18 are one-bedrooms, 17 are two bedrooms and two are manager units. Apartment units also have been set aside as permanent supportive housing, according to Eden Housing, the nonprofit developer. The units are for individuals and families with disabilities and for people experiencing homelessness, including veterans.
“We talk a lot about housing, but this is not merely housing. It’s a community,” said Paul Almeida, a U.S. Air Force veteran who recently moved into a one-bedroom apartment at La Avenida with his dog, Cody.
“We thank you for this wonderful opportunity to live a life of grace and dignity because everyone deserves that,” Almeida said to applause.
La Avenida is the second affordable housing development to open in Mountain View that received funding from Measure A, a $950 million affordable housing bond that Santa Clara County voters passed in 2016.
Since then, the county has committed nearly all of its Measure A funding and is on track to exceed its goals of creating 4,800 new affordable housing units by 1,000 units, according to Santa Clara County Supervisor Margaret Abe-Koga.
Santa Clara County has committed more than $80 million in Measure A funding to Mountain View, with $19 million going towards La Avenida. Mountain View contributed $16 million to the predevelopment and financing of the project.
“I think we can all acknowledge that there’s still much work that’s needed ahead, but this celebration is a reminder of what we can achieve when we work together building a diverse, equitable and inclusive community in what we call our ‘community for all’ in Mountain View,” Kamei said.
Helping us the people that live in not 6 thousand month apartments should be happening .we live paycheck to paycheck .can’t afford lift rides to work need to be able to park our cars on the street .we do t have a garage .hurting us not fare .Taking away the parking on the street is ridiculous.get rid of pot holes .and give back to mountain view give us gift cards to get groceries .I stead of spending a million dollars for this project of the streets .give us free places to park build us a garage