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TRANSACTIONS NEWSLETTER ONLINE

August 2001
HIP Grants Fuel New Housing

Sereno Village Apartments A view of the Sereno Village Apartments soon to be under construction in Vallejo

Around the Bay Area, empty or underused lots adjacent to public transit hubs will soon bloom with attractive townhouses and apartments, thanks in part to MTC's release in July of $9 million in Housing Incentive Program (HIP) grants.

This first round of HIP grant money will reward 15 cities for fostering compact housing with easy access to public transit lines. The grants are keyed to project densities -- the more units per acre, the higher the grant amount. Affordable units earn a bonus.

The HIP program builds on MTC's Transportation for Livable Communities (TLC) program, which funds "community vitality" projects such as new or improved bicycle paths, pedestrian walkways, and plazas and streetscapes near transit centers. In a synergistic twist, MTC's HIP guidelines call for cities to use the new grants to fund more TLC-type projects.

The inaugural HIP funding will help create 5,323 units of new housing, with 5,541 market-rate bedrooms and 2,060 affordable bedrooms -- all within one-third mile of a rail, bus or rapid-transit line.

MTC announced the HIP awards at press conferences in Dublin and Vallejo, on the sites of two new housing developments. The city of Dublin received a $1.3 million HIP grant as an incentive to build a mixed-use housing, office and retail development with up to 1,500 apartments adjacent to the Dublin/Pleasanton BART station.

The city of Vallejo's $382,000 HIP grant is associated with development of the Sereno Village Apartments, which will provide 125 affordably priced units near an existing shopping center and bus hub.

"We really see the Housing Incentive Program as crucial to helping cities do the right thing -- provide affordable housing, rejuvenate downtowns and encourage transit use. This program is smart growth in action," commented Doug Shoemaker, policy director for the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California and a member of the MTC Advisory Council, which reviewed HIP applications.

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