The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority sees potential for an affordable housing development at the Gilroy Transit Center.
Before it goes further, VTA is reaching out to the public to get its feedback on the proposal.
The VTA will host two virtual meetings to gather input: Feb. 18 at 6pm in English and Feb. 24 at 6pm in Spanish.
The nearly eight-acre property, owned by the VTA, is located next to the Caltrain Station on Monterey Street near Seventh Street in downtown Gilroy. It is currently a parking lot for VTA bus and Caltrain passengers, and serves various bus lines for VTA, San Benito County Express and Monterey-Salinas Transit.
According to the VTA, the site could be used for a mixed-use development of housing, retail and employment centers. The project would fall under the VTA’s Transit-Oriented Development program, which requires 20 percent of housing to be considered affordable, and at least half of those units targeted toward extremely low and very low income households.
The project is expected to be funded with Measure A revenue, a 2016 voter-approved bond intended for affordable housing projects in the county.
There is no timeline on the development, according to the VTA.
Gilroy Mayor Marie Blankley, who serves on the VTA’s Policy Advisory Committee and as an alternate on the Board of Directors, said the city falls short of its state-set affordable housing goals, especially in the very low income category.
According to the most recent data by the California Department of Housing and Community Development, Gilroy has only completed 27 percent of its goal of 236 very low income housing units by 2023.
A project such as VTA’s proposal could help alleviate the city’s housing shortage, Blankley said.
“I see this as a great first step toward getting Gilroy the particular kind of housing that we are short,” she said.
For information on how to attend the upcoming meetings, visit vta.org/gilroydevelopment.
