VTA Announces Landmark Home Ownership Development

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), San Jose, CA, is creating homeownership for extremely low-income residents of Santa Clara County. The agency has announced a long-term ground lease agreement with Charities Housing, which will build 45 townhomes on property next to VTA’s Branham Light Rail Station.

While most affordable and low-income housing being built in the San Francisco Bay Area is rental property, the development next to VTA’s Branham Light Rail Station will be townhomes for sale. Approximately a quarter of the units will be designated for extremely low-income residents, earning 30 percent of the median income in Santa Clara County, or less. This is the first such housing development VTA has included in its broad portfolio of Transit-Oriented Development.

“At VTA, we are proud to be on the cutting edge of this opportunity, and we hope this is just the beginning, with other projects and developers following suit,” said VTA General Manager/CEO Carolyn Gonot.

The homes at Branham station will prioritize affordability, fostering an opportunity for owners to build equity in their own homes. Anticipating that some of the homes will be sold again in future years, the affordable Area Median Income levels will be guaranteed in perpetuity through recorded deed restrictions administered by the Santa Clara County Office of Supportive Housing.

The Branham homeownership project is one of several new housing projects benefiting from a cooperative agreement between VTA and the Office of Supportive Housing, which manages funds from the 2016 Measure A Affordable Housing Bond.

Through partnerships with nonprofits, private developers, and public-sector agencies, VTA’s TOD program allows developers to lease under-utilized VTA properties near transit. This initiative aims to provide much-needed housing while increasing system ridership and farebox revenues.