The City of Santa Rosa is reminding interested applicants of the Notice of Availability deadline of March 24 for three key parcels for affordable housing. In December 2022, the City Council declared three City-owned parking sites as non-exempt surplus land downtown for housing.
Applicants can directly apply to the City of Santa Rosa and find the Notice of Availability on the California Department of Housing and Community Development’s website.
These three City-owned locations (500 Fifth St, 730 Third street, and 625 & 627 Third Street), all located within the Downtown Santa Rosa Station Area Specific Plan, will require a minimum of 25% affordable housing and together can hold over 600 units of much-needed housing in Santa Rosa’s downtown.
“We are pleased to see the City of Santa Rosa utilize the tools that are available under the Surplus Land Act to make city-owned property available for affordable housing development,” said California Department of Housing and Community Development Director Gustavo Velasquez. “We look forward to providing any additional technical assistance to ensure the city meets all their legal obligations.”
Over the last year, the City of Santa Rosa has analyzed City-owned parcels to activate much-needed housing development downtown. Several studies were performed on the parking needs of the entire downtown area, focusing on capacity needs for businesses and visitors. The results from the studies showed that downtown is overparked. The City Council reviewed all City-owned parking parcels - size, age, deferred maintenance and locations were analyzed.
“We are excited about the tremendous opportunity to revitalize downtown and provide desperately needed housing for our community. The City Council took strong action to take this step, and we appreciate the support we have received from the state of California,” said City Manager Maraskeshia Smith.
The City has applied to be considered for the California Department of Housing and Community Development’s (HCD) IIG-Catalyst Grant for predevelopment and demolition costs to further assist the development of housing on these sites.