The Bolinas Community Land Trust has scaled back its plans for an affordable housing development on Wharf Road, citing permit delays and the rising costs of construction. The price tag of the ambitious plan for two apartment buildings housing a total of nine two- and three-bedroom units grew by $2 million in the last year due to complications that came from a parking-related retaining wall, the trust said. Now the height and size of the buildings will be trimmed to accommodate four three-bedroom units and four two-bedroom units, along with a commercial space on the ground floor. “This project has turned into a true reality check on just how hard it is to do traditional new construction for small-site affordable housing,” said Arianne Dar, the executive director of the land trust. “Even with a flurry of additional funds committed by private donors, the County of Marin, and Marin Community Foundation, we couldn’t keep pace with escalating costs and, sadly, the gap has just gotten too big for us to close.” In early November, the trust announced in a press release that it would reduce the project to just one building with five units, along with a commercial space on the ground floor that is required by Marin’s Local Coastal Program. But the trust swiftly retracted the announcement, telling the Light this week that several stakeholders had threatened to pull funds. This month, the board voted to move ahead with the compromise plan, saying it was committed to maximizing the entitlements granted for the project. The latest redesign by John Lum Architecture will soon be submitted to the county to ensure compliance with building codes. Besides shrinking the size of the buildings, the new plans eliminate extra stairways, elevators and bathrooms. Ms. Dar said there are no changes to the income requirements for the units, which will be rented at $2,000 to $3,000 a month per unit. The Wharf Road project began in 2019 with a $4 million gift from an anonymous donor who committed to fully funding the project but later withdrew the promise of full funding after costs rose too high. Plans were originally estimated at nearly $14 million but dropped to $10 million after the concept for a subterranean garage was abandoned. Ms. Dar said the price of the project is dynamic and evolving as plans change, but that the current estimate sits between $8 million and $10 million in construction costs alone. The underground parking garage included in earlier plans was exchanged for a circular driveway, but that plan prompted an appeal by a neighbor and the concept too has since been replaced. Now, the plan is to provide ample parking for tenants on a lot placed between the buildings. The project has enjoyed mixed support from the community. A survey in 2020 that reached 311 primarily Bolinas residents found that 88 percent were supportive of the creation of affordable housing in Bolinas in general, but 39 percent thought the scale of the Wharf Road proposal was too large for the downtown area. Local Jennie Pfeiffer has long argued that the project was poorly placed. “I am delighted at all efforts from the B.C.L.T. to scale back on an oversized development of a property in the heart of our tiny, over-trafficked town,” she told the Light in an email. Yet the trust has maintained that due to zoning laws, the 100,000-square-foot knoll next to Smiley’s Schooner Saloon was the only viable location for a multi-family housing project. Earlier this year, the effort was under budget by nearly $1 million until the Board of Supervisors approved an infusion of $625,000 from the Measure W housing fund. The increasing cost of materials and labor has impacted the land trust’s other projects, too. Plans for the Overlook Drive and Aspen Road affordable homes were changed from stick construction to prefabricated units, which cost half of what it would have cost the trust to build them from scratch. Pam Dorr, the executive director for the Community Land Trust Association of West Marin, said besides zoning obstacles, the lack of funding for affordable housing in Marin compared to other counties in the Bay Area was lamentable. “An affordable housing bond in Marin is needed,” Ms. Dorr said. “Alameda and Santa Clara Counties just passed their bonds for affordable housing. Measure W is great, but they’re not providing enough. Neighboring counties have a wider net to catch funding gaps.”
This article was corrected to reflect the current number of units planned for the Wharf Road: eight, not five as was reported in our print edition.