Cabrillo Economic Development Corp., Dolores Huerta Gardens property receives $26,246,464 from the California Housing Accelerator grant as part of a plan to create 2,755 affordable homes across 30 communities to address California’s housing crisis
VENTURA COUNTY — The Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation (CEDC) announced on Sept. 29 that it has been awarded $26,246,464 from a California Housing Accelerator grant from the California Housing and Community Development Department (HCD). The funding is part of the California Housing Accelerator Comeback Plan, which is designed to assist in ending homelessness and providing affordable housing.
“The quick, strategic investments the state has made through the California Housing Accelerator brings us another step closer to the 2.5 million homes needed by 2030, as outlined in our Statewide Housing Plan,” said Gustavo Velasquez, Director of the California Department of Housing and Community Development. “Just one year after Governor Gavin Newsom announced the California Housing Accelerator, HCD has helped partners unlock the ability to construct over 5,000 quality affordable homes that were stuck waiting for funding. Roughly 80 percent of all Accelerator units will be for extremely low to very low-income households and unhoused residents.”
The designated grant funding clears the pathway for CEDC’s new Dolores Huerta Gardens property, a 58-unit affordable housing property slated to break ground in 2023 in Oxnard, CA. The new development aims to provide housing to both the farmworkers and homeless veteran communities in the area. This property will consist of 19 one-bedroom units, 21 two-bedroom units, and 18 three-bedroom units.
“During the pandemic, Ventura County homes rose 31% in price, and many low-income residents were struggling to afford to live in the county due to the lack of affordable housing options,” said Margarita H. de Escontrias, Chief Executive Officer at Cabrillo EDC. “For many Ventura County residents, the newly planned Dolores Huerta Gardens community holds a great deal of hope, and these much-needed California Housing Accelerator grant funds will help us start to break ground in 2023 on this new community.”
California Housing Accelerator Overview — The California Housing Accelerator deployed $1.9 billion, allocated from the 2021-22 state budget as part of the California Comeback Plan, to:
1. Accelerate development of shovel-ready affordable housing for those most in need.
2. Clear the backlog of affordable housing projects currently stalled in the tax credit funding pipeline.
3. Reduce the amount of time and money spent on producing new affordable housing.
The California Housing and Community Development Department (HCD) administered the Housing Accelerator, funding 5,070 affordable rental homes across 57 developments. Approximately 80% will be targeted to extremely low- to very low-income individuals and families, including Californians experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
In 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom signed the largest funding and reform package for housing and homelessness in California history as part of the $100 billion California Comeback Plan. The package included $10.3 billion for affordable housing and $12 billion over two years towards tackling the homelessness crisis head-on – helping tens of thousands of people off the streets while also demanding greater accountability and more urgency from local governments.
About Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation — The Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation has been making dreams come true, one home at a time, since 1981. Proud to be the largest developer of affordable homes in Ventura County, Cabrillo’s success is the result of decades of passion, dedication, and vision. With a mission of providing comprehensive housing services and community economic development activities, Cabrillo facilitates self-sufficiency for individuals and families who are most lacking in opportunity. At Cabrillo, home is more than a place to live – it is the cornerstone of the community’s economic, environmental and social wellbeing. For more information, please visit cabrilloedc.org and https://accelerator.hcd.ca.gov