GILROY
– Construction and financial support for Gilroy’s first teacher
housing project are coming together as South County Housing
prepares for a grand opening this weekend.
By Lori Stuenkel
GILROY – Construction and financial support for Gilroy’s first teacher housing project are coming together as South County Housing prepares for a grand opening this weekend.
South County Housing and Gilroy Unified School District are connecting teachers with financial assistance to purchase one of La Maestra’s 12 affordable single-family homes. A model home for the subdivision’s Trimble Court 13-unit first stage, being mostly marketed toward the general public, will be open for tours starting Saturday and Sunday.
The Trimble Court lot homes should be finished by February and La Maestra will be completed in May at the latest, according to Nancy Wright, senior project manager for South County Housing.
“It’s coming along really well,” she said.
Also still in the works are funding mechanisms for the teacher housing from the City of Gilroy and possibly the school district, Wright said.
The joint effort between South County Housing and GUSD is set to help keep educators, whose salaries start at about $36,000 in Gilroy. The district frequently loses teachers to areas like the Central Valley, where home prices are significantly lower.
“We want to recruit and retain quality teachers for the school district,” Wright said.
That should be easier once a city loan program is proposed and approved by City Council. City officials in July said they were interested in providing a $30,000 low-cost loan, but were unsure whether it would be legal to use government funds for such a project. Now, says Marilyn Roaf, housing and community development coordinator, a proposal is nearing completion and could go before City Council before March.
The city would likely provide teachers loans from its $2-million housing trust fund, which supports housing programs for low-income families and is maintained by the sale of existing affordable housing.
When homes purchased through an affordable housing program are later sold, some of the money loaned is repaid to the city’s housing trust fund. The same would apply to sales of La Maestra homes.
“Revenue varies, so we would be planning for the next 15 years,” Roaf said. “There’s $2 million … now, but we may not have that much money in the future.”
Once the proposal is approved by Council, the three teachers currently hoping to purchase a La Maestra home will likely breathe a sigh of relief.
“That’s all we’re waiting for,” Wright said.
However, at this point, the city may only be able to offer the loan to six teachers. There are 15 homes total being marketed to teachers – La Maestra’s 12, plus three from the Trimble Court lot.
“We’re looking at how this program would work in the future, so we’re looking at an upcoming budget to figure out how we would do more,” she said. “We would have it be an ongoing program.”
Roaf said she is double-checking on the legality of using the housing funds for a specific group, in this case teachers. Other jurisdictions have used government funds from Housing and Urban Development for projects benefiting one employee group, she said.
“There is some precedent,” Roaf said. “But that is something that we want to make sure (of), that that’s a correct use of public money.”
South County Housing at one point hoped to put together enough funding mechanisms to deduct $112,000 from the $440,000 price tag for La Maestra’s homes, but soon found that some of the funding could not be combined. The affordable housing was suddenly not so affordable for teachers, as the only sure assistance was a $25,000 deferred-interest loan for first-time home-buyers from the High Cost Area Home Purchase Assistance Program, offered through the California Housing Finance Agency.
GUSD is also working on a plan to provide teachers some home-buying assistance, Wright said. District officials were unavailable for comment before deadline Monday.
Wright predicts that more teachers will consider purchasing La Maestra homes once the city and/or district loan programs are finalized. Thirty teachers showed up for an initial workshop last summer, but many thought they couldn’t afford the homes since some of the financial assistance was in question.
“We want to have another workshop, but we want to be sure we have something to tell them,” Wright said.
The model home opening this weekend is part of the South County Housing project’s first stage and will not actually be one of the houses being marketed to teachers. At just over 2,000 square feet and priced at $530,000, the house is bigger and more expensive than the teacher houses, although the design and layout is similar.
“We’ve already got two (first-stage) houses spoken for,” said Sharon Ruiz, a community sales representative for The Ryness Company, which is selling the homes.
“It’s just beautiful. They’re going to a lot of work to put in the detailing on these homes,” Ruiz said.
The model can give some indication of what the finished La Maestra homes may include.
“The finishes and the amenities will be very similar (in the teacher housing),” Wright said. “They’re smaller houses, but they’re very nicely put together.”
Three homes in the first stage are being marketed to teachers: All three are 1,588 square feet and prices range from $437,000 to 448,000.
La Maestra is located at Church Street and Trimble Court behind Antonio Del Buono Elementary School. Ten 1,477-square-foot homes are priced at $440,000 and two 1,588-square-foot homes cost around $450,000.
La Maestra will also feature a “tot lot” private park. The 30-by-100 square foot plot will include playground equipment, barbecue and picnic tables and will be maintained by homeowner’s association membership fees, Wright said.
Details: La Maestra, contact 1 (800) 543-3432.
