Stinson Beach just landed its first permanently affordable housing: the Community Land Trust Association of West Marin closed last week on a deal to purchase an eight-unit apartment complex in town for about $3 million. The purchase ensures that the units will be rented affordably, as the property will operate under a deed restriction.
Funding from the project comes from many sources: the county is offering a $500,000 grant from its affordable housing fund and a $500,000 loan, and the Marin Community Foundation is providing a $1.35 million loan and a $500,000 grant. Individual donations clocked in at over $250,000, said Kim Thompson, the executive director of CLAM.
“I think that the thing that really needs to be noted is how willing everyone was to pitch in,” said Chris Harrington, a Stinson Beach realtor who helped instigate the project.
Mr. Harrington said he became aware last year that the apartment complex was coming onto the market. He and Leelee Thomas, a county staffer who focuses on affordable housing projects, reached out to the owners, Mill Valley couple Paul Goldsmith and Carin Garland, to discuss the possibility of turning it into affordable housing. Soon they also reached out to CLAM, the Marin Community Foundation and Supervisor Steve Kinsey’s office.
“It seemed everyone we talked to was enthusiastic about it,” Mr. Harrington said.
That’s likely because the project creates a number of units in one fell swoop, which is tough in a place like West Marin, where complexes are scarce. In fact, Mr. Harrington has been on the lookout for an affordable project in Stinson for about 15 years, “with a remarkable lack of success,” he said—until now.
“Leelee and I have been chasing affordable housing projects for a while now,” he continued. “But it’s a small beach town, and expensive.”
Thomas Peters, the Marin Community Foundation’s president and CEO, said this summer that creating affordable housing in West Marin is tough. “There are very few viable projects to support in West Marin. We are excited to help make this happen,” he said.
The complex, on Calle del Embarcadero, comes with seven one-bedrooms and a studio. Seven units are currently occupied, six full time. The owners have used the seventh as a vacation home, and they have been given one extra year before they must leave. Ms. Thompson said that CLAM will be creating a waitlist for units.
Two of the current occupants are Section 8 voucher holders—the only voucher holders renting in all of Stinson Beach. Ms. Thomas said at a county hearing in June that without a guarantee of affordable housing, the voucher holders probably would have lost their apartments, and maybe the others would have, too.
The purchase marks CLAM’s first outside Point Reyes Station and Inverness, and doubles the number of rentals that it operates. It also marks CLAM’s most expensive acquisition. But Ms. Thompson also emphasized that the project was made possible by many people and organizations. “We feel inspired by these efforts,” she said. “Everyone gave it all they got to make it work. And that’s what it takes.”