SAN JOSE HOUSING

Affordable Housing General

California Housing Partnership Corporation. San Francisco, CA. (policy, advocacy for affordable housing). contains numerous resources on affordable housing issues, including “at-risk” data by Congressional district and county (properties that will lose subsidized status), preservation resources, tax credits, asset management, financial consulting, training.

Center for Community Innovation, Institute of Urban and Regional Development, UC Berkeley. (academic research institution). The center provides a home for academic research that produces policy analysis, recommendations, and evaluations of the built environment, its economy, sustainability, and equity. Center work is in the areas of revitalizing neighborhoods, developing economic resilience, designing and programming for the public realm, and producing and sustaining affordable housing.

Institute for Local Government, Housing Resource Center. Sacramento, CA. (research arm of the League of California Cities). Extensive resources for information related to many issues related to housing, including density, housing elements, housing land trusts, housing trust funds, inclusionary housing, infill, prefabricated homes, mixed use, preserving existing housing, redevelopment, second units, neighborhood acceptance, farmworker housing, and homelessness. The institute also features numerous case studies from the Bay Area.

Knowledgeplex Inc., “The affordable housing and community development resource for professionals.” San Jose, CA and Boston. (professional development and reference resource). Amazing resource for anyone connected to these issues. Dataplace, all kinds of local statistics related to housing; scheduled chats with panels of experts; video talks and presentations; news; papers and articles on topics from public housing to personal finance to organizational development to fair housing to homelessness.

Local Initiatives Support Coalition, (LISC), Housing Area. Washington D.C. and local office in San Francisco. “We help neighbors build communities.” Training, financial, and technical assistance for community development. Contains a housing-specific focus.

National Housing & Rehabilitation Association, Washington D.C. (industry association). The National Housing & Rehabilitation Association’s (NH&RA) website for developers, financiers, professionals and consultants in the affordable housing and historic rehabilitation businesses. Information on tax credits, historic rehabilitation, deal opportunities, market studies, events, and HUD info.

Nonprofit Housing Association of Northern California, San Francisco, CA. (policy and advocacy association for developers).

Policy Link. Oakland, CA. (nonprofit policy and advocacy group). Resources on affordable housing, including an equitable development toolkit, resources for inclusionary zoning, information on code enforcement, community mapping, developer exactions, housing trusts, expiration, and retention of affordable housing, commercial linking, brownfields, the Community Reinvestment Act, infill, housing Cooperatives, eviction controls, rent control, real estate transfer taxes.

Project for Public Spaces. New York City. (nonprofit for community development and planning). Projects, services, and resources in the areas of parks, civic centers, public markets, downtowns, mixed-use developments, campuses, squares, and waterfronts.

Public Policy Institute of California, Housing Resources. San Francisco, CA. (think-tank). Page provides news, events, facts, and a list of policy research papers in housing by the prominent Northern California think tank.

U.S. Department of Housing and Development (HUD). Washington, D.C. (federal agency). All sorts of resources for consumers, builders, developers, nonprofits. Major resources include information for buying, owning, selling, renting, homeless, home improvements, HUD homes, fair housing, foreclosure, and consumer information. HUD, in its current and former incarnations–including programs for “slum clearance and urban renewal” that razed wide swaths of inner cities around the country–has played a major role in the changing metropolitan landscape. Read about its history.

ADVOCACY

Affordable Housing Network. Phyllis Ward and Ron Johnson are longtime housing advocates in the County. Unfortunately, they don’t have a website.

Affordable Housing Week. A project of the Nonprofit Housing Association of Northern California (NPH) and Housing, Santa Clara County. Tours and educational events to educate the public about affordable housing.
American Association of University Women (AAUW)Do they have a housing program?

Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI), San Jose, CA. Services, education, and advocacy focused on the Asian American community in the areas of health, substance abuse, survivors of domestic violence and torture for seniors, adults, and youth. Includes housing advocacy services.

Greenbelt Alliance, San Francisco, CA. (policy and advocacy organization). The organization has played a pivotal role in preserving the Bay Area’s extensive open space and parks from developer encroachment. They link their open space policy mission with advocacy for affordable housing, inclusionary zoning, and smart growth.

Santa Clara County Association of Realtors, San Jose. (industry association). Provides legal, political, education, and networking opportunities for the Valley’s realty industry. Offers area housing statistics, consumer information, and a dispute center with ombudsman information, attorneys, ethics and arbitration guidelines. The association also has a lobbying arm.

Santa Clara County Collaborative on Affordable Housing and Homelessness Issues, maintained by the Community Technology Alliance, San Jose, CA. (internet collaborative internet resource, public sector). A collaborative, unincorporated community-benefits organization that seeks “to increase the supply of affordable housing and to reduce homelessness in the County.” Has several policy and position papers, resources, and a diagram of issues, agencies, and organizations involved in the fight.

Silicon Valley Leadership Group. Housing Area. San Jose, CA. (policy organization and lobby) Policy and lobbying consortium of the major manufacturers in the Valley. Policy areas include health, education, economic vitality, tax policy, transportation, energy, and housing. Formerly known as the Silicon Valley Manufacturers Group. The group has been instrumental in making San Jose a national leader in smart growth and affordable housing, notwithstanding the history of sprawl and displacement in the Valley.

South Bay Labor Council. San Jose, CA. (union collective). A collective of more than 100 AFL-CIO affiliates. Represents carpenters, painters.

The Northern California Home Builders Association. San Ramon, Santa Rosa, San Jose. (industry association). The association has an infill committee, but its standard fare beyond that .

Working Partnerships USA. San Jose, CA. (advocacy and policy org). The organization works in four areas to address the gap between the rich and poor in the Valley. These areas are economic research and analysis, government accountability and reform, health care, and organizing and leadership development. The organization has published several policy reports.

NONPROFIT HOUSING DEVELOPERS IN THE VALLEY

* Note: The San Jose Department of Housing has synopses of developer-partners that gives a good overview of their project history.

BRIDGE Housing Corp. San Francisco, San Diego, and Los Angeles. A major affordable housing developer in California. Also provides property and asset management.

Charities Housing. San Jose, CA. A leader in affordable housing development in the Valley. Allied with Catholic Charities. Provides asset and property management, consulting services, and resident services.

Community Housing Developers. Developer of affordable housing is Santa Clara County.

EAH. San Rafael, CA (main office), San Jose, Fresno, and Hawaii. Major developer of affordable housing in California and Hawaii. Provides property management and resident services. EAH does some advocacy and policy work.

Eden Housing Inc. Hayward, CA. Major developer of affordable housing in Northern California. Provides property management and resident services.

First Community Housing. San Jose, CA. Started by two for-profit developers. Focus on the Valley. Provides resident services.

Mercy Housing. Denver, CO (main office), CA Office in San Francisco. Major national affordable housing developer. Provides an array of services for residents and buyers: property management, refugee housing, populations with special needs, lending assistance. Affiliated with the Catholic Sisters.Mid-Peninsula Housing Coalition. Foster City (main office), office in Watsonville. Major developer of affordable housing in the greater Bay Area. Does new building and rehabs. Has three orgs in one: development, property management, and resident service management.

Silicon Valley Habitat for Humanity. Milpitas, CA. An affiliate of the international Habitat for Humanity. The org. builds affordable housing with volunteer construction workers, often involving the eventual occupant or owner.

Simpson Housing

Sobrato

South County Housing

Summerhill

Taylor Woodrow

The Related Companies of CA

Toll Brothers

Willliams and Dame

GOVERNMENT

City of San Jose Housing Department

Housing Authority of Santa Clara Co.

Santa Clara County

SERVICE PROVIDERS

Affordable Housing for Teachers

Bill Wilson Center

CHAM

Emergency Housing Consortium (EHC)

InnVision

Low Income Self Help Center

Neighborhood Housing Services of Silicon Valley (NHSSV)

Santa Clara County Housing Trust

Self Help for the Elderly