Mountain View Voice
By Kevin Forestieri
A long surface parking lot next door to Mountain View City Hall will be replaced with apartments for low-income families, after the Mountain View City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to lease the city-owned property to an affordable housing developer.
The project, located along Bryant Street between California and Mercy streets, includes 120 apartments in five-story buildings facing downtown, tapering down to three stories as it approaches single-story homes to the west. It also has ground-floor retail and community space, designed with the intent to attract pedestrians, in sharp contrast to the "dead zones" created by office buildings in the downtown area.
The 7-0 vote has been a long time coming, with the city spending the last six years considering what to do with the 1.5-acre property known as "Lot 12." In 2015, the city flagged affordable housing and hotels as uses for two city-owned lots, which were always considered temporary parking and intended for future development.
The developer, Alta Housing, is proposing to build 120 apartments aimed at housing some of the lowest-income residents in the county, with 20 units set aside for those facing homelessness...
In order to cobble together enough cash to pay for the project, which now exceeds $114 million, Alta Housing is tapping into more funding from Santa Clara County's Measure A bond and more funding through federal housing vouchers. The project also leverages $8 million in state funding, which was appropriated through SB 129 with help from State Sen. Josh Becker (D-Menlo Park).