Monterey Bay Economic Partnership puts up millions for affordable housing.

The lack of housing in Monterey County is no secret and the high price for both homeownership and rent has pushed some underwater financially and others onto the streets. To tackle this problem, the Monterey Bay Economic Partnership has launched an affordable housing initiative that includes the creation of the Monterey Bay Housing Trust.

“With the disappearance of redevelopment agency funds, additional financing options are greatly needed,” says Bud Colligan, co-chair of MBEP.

Individuals and businesses from across the region have pledged $2 million in equity to the trust. With help from the Housing Trust Silicon Valley – after which the MBEP project is modeled – funds can be leveraged to $10 million through grants and loans, Colligan says.

The housing trust will help developers and municipalities kickstart affordable and workforce housing projects, as many developments need initial investment to qualify for matching state and federal grants. Interest from the short-term loans will be put back into the trust, allowing it to grow and make more investments, Colligan continues.

Monterey Bay Housing Trust will stay under the financial umbrella of MBEP and its funds will be held by the Housing Trust Silicon Valley until it becomes its own not-for-profit entity in the coming years.

With rents increasing more than 10 percent annually and more than 50 percent of renters being moderately or severely cost burdened, meaning they spend 35 percent or more of their income on rent, the urgency for finding housing solutions has been increasing. A 2014 report by the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments says the 7,386 new units the county needs to create by 2023 to satisfy housing demand are still far off.

“Programs like this are really lacking in Monterey County,” says Betsy Nahas Wilson, director of housing development with the affordable housing developer MidPen Housing, which currently is working with the Housing Trust Silicon Valley on a project in Sunnyvale. “It’s great that MBEP is creating a housing trust. It’s needed.”

On top of putting up money for affordable housing, MBEP’s initiative also includes a program to support further development of employer-sponsored housing.

The Pebble Beach Company’s embattled proposal to build workforce housing in Pacific Grove and Tanimura & Antle’s recent farmworker housing development in Spreckels are good examples of how employers can help alleviate the housing shortage, Colligan says.