A large housing project is planned for Santa Clara located at 2904 Corvin Drive that’s designed to provide homes and supportive care for those experiencing homelessness. The project is being developed by Abode Services, a Bay Area agency that works to end homelessness by connecting people with stable and supportive housing.
Abode Services recently cleared a funding hurdle by receiving a $10.3 million loan from Housing Trust Silicon Valley (HTSV) to acquire the parcel at 2904 Corvin Drive and build 144 units of affordable housing. The HTSV loan is partially funded by Santa Clara County’s Measure A bond funds aimed at creating housing for the homeless, countywide. HTSV worked closely with the County to determine that Abode Services was eligible for the loan.
“The stated priority of Measure A is to get homeless people off the streets and into housing with services they need to stabilize their lives,” said Jim Mather, chief lending officer, HTSV. “Every project we do that supports the homeless in some way is important. We’re trying to support as many projects as we can that can get Measure A funds.”
The project has already received entitlements and is currently going through a design review process with the City of Santa Clara before Abode applies for building permits. Abode has committed to devoting a minimum of 80 of the total 144 units for people experiencing homelessness, with the remaining units available to those with very low incomes. Abode will also try to link veterans who are homeless with about 25 percent of the 80 supportive studios.
Jon White, director of real estate development at Abode, described the project as 144 micro-studio units that will be factory-built offsite. Once complete, the resulting building will be four-stories over a ground-floor containing the supportive services and property management. The facade of the ground-floor will be “commercial-looking.”
Amenities include a second-story terrace deck, community room, computer access equipped wth Wi-Fi, onsite laundry and a social services team. All studios will have ADA-compliant bathrooms. Residents are allowed to have pets and a dog park will be featured on the property.
“This project is exactly what we need to solve the problem of homelessness,” said White. “This is what we need — new housing stock that’s permanently affordable to people who have special needs and are homeless. This is what we do at Abode. I’m excited for this to move towards construction to help solve the problem of homelessness.”
The property is located within the Lawrence Station Area Plan and the development will be considered transit-oriented as it’s less than a mile from Lawrence Station and along several bus routes. According to Mather, 2904 Corvin Drive is the most recent of several projects underway to help reach of the goal of building several thousand affordable housing units across the County.
“I’m very excited to see another project underway that fulfills the promise we made to voters with Measure A: that we will tackle the region’s housing crisis with projects that are both well-planned and permanent,” said Ken Yeager, Santa Clara County Supervisor. “The 144-unit development on Corvin Drive is a great example of this. Voters entrusted us with a great responsibility when they approved the Measure A housing bond and the County needs great partners such as Abode and Housing Trust Silicon Valley to fulfill that trust. I am excited about the dozens of families that will have an affordable new home at the Corvin Drive site.”