The search for affordable housing has pushed many people further and further from urban areas to places like Oakley.
But even beyond that it gets expensive. And it is now driving a push for affordable projects.
“A year and six months ago I lost my husband,” Araceli Solis explains. “We had to move closer to my family, to this little place where we are all together. I don’t have a place to cook for them. My mother has to cook for my daughters.”
Not long after Solis lost her husband, her landlord decided to raise her rent. She was forced to move with her three daughters into a relative’s small apartment. However, that chapter is in danger of coming to an end.
“It means a lot,” she said of her upcoming housing placement. “I’m so grateful, blessed.”
“So here we were able to partner with the city of Oakley, which had four existing parcels that were surplus lands,” Lori Sanson explains.
Sanson is chairman of the YellowRoof Foundation, which just cut the ribbon on the Solis family’s new home; These are affordable rental homes, developed in collaboration with Oakley, a collection of homebuilders and private donors. And it came at a bargain.
“With less than 260,000 per door.” she said of the homes “Compared to the local Bay Area average per door for an affordable unit.”
Some of the cost savings are built into the homes.
“They’re all the same,” Sanson said. “Which helps to bring them to market affordably.”
That’s four identical buildings, two units in each. And the downstairs units are designed for three children.
“Here in the one-bedroom unit we usually find a single parent with one child,” Sanson said.
And that’s exactly the kind of family that gets stuck in a place people once retreated to for affordability. The average Oakley
The house price has now passed $700,000. And rents have also risen, increasing more than $1,000 in the past five years. For these new homes, rent will not exceed 30% of household income, which could help those who might fall below state median income thresholds.
“That’s still not affordable. $1,600-$2,000 a month,” Sanson said of many affordable pricing deals. “Some people might say, ‘Wow, that’s amazing for a $3,000 device.’ That is not affordable for so many hardworking families in this community.”
“I know my daughters will do better in school because they have their own place to do their homework,” Solis said. “They don’t get distracted because they’re all together in one place. It means a lot to me.”
For Solis, it’s a chance to get her family on the ground, in their own ample space. And she calls that a blessing.
“I lost my hope,” Solid said. “But now they’re coming back. Everything is falling into place. I’m really happy.”
The eight families who will live here have been placed through the school system, which works to identify students facing housing challenges or even at risk of outright homelessness. To make the news even better for them, the foundation hopes to give everyone the opportunity to move in before Christmas.
Wilson Walker
