After years of planning, negotiation and delays, construction will soon begin on a $9.7 million project that will give eight Bolinas families an opportunity to buy affordable housing in the center of town.
A few routine county permits are still pending, but Habitat for Humanity and the Bolinas Community Land Trust, which have teamed up on the project, expect to break ground as early as September, according to Maureen Sedonaen, chief executive officer of Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco.
Plans for the project, located next door to Smiley’s Schooner Saloon at 31 Wharf Road, feature four three-bedroom townhomes, four two-bedroom townhomes and two commercial office spaces on the ground floor, one of which will be occupied by the B.C.L.T.
Extensive grading will be necessary to prepare the hillside site, which will include parking for residents and employees of Smiley’s and the Coast Café, whose owner, Roseanne LaVoy, sold the property to the B.C.L.T. in 2019.
The lot has historically been used for employee parking and to house garbage and recycling containers for the two businesses. When it purchased the property, the land trust agreed to continue those uses.
The project was originally envisioned with an underground parking garage, which proved to be prohibitively expensive. Plans for a circular driveway, with an entrance on one side of the apartments and an exit on the other, were also abandoned after a neighbor objected.
Squeezing in two-way access, along with parking and a garbage vault, has required extensive consultation and compromise with the owners of Smiley’s and the Coast Café.
“We really are grateful for the continued partnership of those businesses,” said Annie O’Connor, co-director of the B.C.L.T. “We really have come together to figure out how to make this work for everyone and design the best project to meet all community needs with the least impact.”
Leila Monroe, a former land trust board member who co-owns Smiley’s, has supported the project from the outset, although the anticipated 18 months of construction will cause significant disruptions to her business.
“It’s been very challenging to work through all the issues, and very challenging to do a project like this in our small downtown,” Ms. Monroe said. “But this is the only lot zoned for multi-unit housing in Bolinas, and we’ve supported it for that reason. Although our business will experience short-term pain, we see the long-term community need for affordable housing.”
Inflation and the necessary design modifications have driven up the estimated cost of the project over the last year, from $8.5 million to $9.7 million, according to Ms. Sedonaen. Most of the money has been raised through a combination of donations from individuals, foundations and government agencies, including $3.5 million from the county. An additional $1 million is still needed, but Ms. Sedonaen expressed confidence that Habitat would close the gap.
“The cost of construction materials is going up—wood in particular—but we’re going to keep moving forward because of the need,” she said. “It’s not going to stop us, but we’ll have to raise more money to move the project forward.”
The Wharf Road homes were originally planned as rental units but will now be owned by their occupants for as long as they reside in them. Habitat will serve as the lender, offering zero-percent mortgages to the buyers, whose incomes must be 50 to 80 percent of the Marin’s annual median income, or between $87,000 and $140,000 for a family of four. Mortgage payments will be limited to 30 percent of a family’s income.
Residents will be required to put sweat equity into the homes, and the land trust will serve as property manager. If they choose to sell the home, owners would collect the amount they paid on the principal of their loan, plus an adjustment to cover inflation. Habitat would resell the unit to another family that meets the income guidelines, keeping the price low in perpetuity.
While the residents will have an ownership stake in the townhomes, the B.C.L.T. will own the land beneath them.
The Bolinas Community Public Utility District, which tightly controls water connections in town, had previously approved a water permit for the townhomes. In addition, the trust drilled a highly productive well on the site that will be permitted by the BCPUD to serve as an emergency water source for the entire community.
“I’m delighted to see this project moving forward after years of effort,” said Ms. O’Connor, who returned to work this week after a six-month bereavement and medical leave. “There’s a tremendous need for us to protect, preserve and produce affordable housing.”
Ms. O’Connor, whose previous title was executive director, returns to the B.C.L.T. with a redefined role. Moving forward, she will serve as a co-equal managing director with Jeff Clapp, who served as interim executive director in her absence. Her portfolio will include philanthropy, community engagement and communications; Mr. Clapp will oversee finance, properties and projects.