All 400 of California’s redevelopment agencies are required to close by February 1st. I sat down for an interview with Toby Lieberman, Opportunity Fund’s Affordable Housing Loan Program Director to find out what this means for affordable housing in our state.

How big of an impact is the closing of redevelopment agencies having on affordable housing in CA?
The effect will be huge overall. But the public won’t see the change fully for several years. Housing developments that are already funded or have loan documents will go forward. So there will still be projects opening up for 2-3 years – but the pipeline is contracting. This means that even when the recession lifts, we’ll be years behind.

What does this mean for a “typical” affordable housing project?
Every project and every jurisdiction is different. To use the City of San Jose as an example, for any of the larger projects, redevelopment dollars account for a significant source of funding. So now those dollars are gone and need to be replaced somehow; otherwise, I’m not sure if or how these kinds of investments in our communities can continue.

Are there certain types of projects that are less likely to be funded now?
Projects that are “deeply” affordable will have a harder time – those that house the most low-income and most vulnerable people. (People making less than 50% of the area Median Income -- about $52,000 for a family of four). Low-income people living with disabilities, for example, will have even fewer alternatives for them to find housing.

How is this change impacting Opportunity Fund’s affordable housing lending? How is your job changing?
We are getting different types of loan requests – we’ve been working on more single family home projects than ever before. For example, we’re working with Habitat for Humanity Silicon Valley – a new partner for us. We’ve always been creative, but that is even more important now – to figure out how to be useful for our developer partners in this environment.

Is there any silver lining to this momentous change?
I’m optimistic. I talk to developers a lot – they are not going to walk away from this mission. It will take time to regroup. We’ve lived through challenging times before and will keep working to make affordable housing a reality.

Finally, why do you care about affordable housing?
You’re talking about the people working all around us, who we see every day.  These are our parents living in the senior communities, the teachers who educate our children, the waiters serving our food. These are members of our community who rely on the homes we build to have a safe, decent place to live.
 
Read about Sharon and her new affordable home at Main Street Village here.