Bay Area Transit Organization Starts AH Fund

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission, which covers the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area, is making a $10 million commitment to affordable housing through its Transportation for Livable Communities program. The money will be used to establish a revolving loan fund to finance land acquisition for affordable housing development near rail and bus lines in the Bay Area. MTC added it hopes to grow the fund to at least $40 million by attracting matching commitments from private foundations and other investors. The Bay Area Affordable Transit-Oriented Development Fund is modeled on similar funds in Denver, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New Orleans and New York. Based on information provided by Bay Area cities and developers, MTC staff estimates a $40 million TOD fund could be used to help finance the acquisition of at least 20 to 30 acres around the region, which, depending on the density of build-out, would support development of anywhere from 1,100 to 3,800 units of affordable housing. "We think the slow housing market makes this an excellent time to make this investment," commented MTC executive director Steve Heminger. "At a time when lending, especially for affordable housing, is almost nonexistent, this fund can not only triple the impact of each TLC dollar but also play a critical role in preserving sites for affordable transit-oriented development while the credit markets and bond institutions recover to support affordable housing construction again."