March 17 deadline to apply for over $5 million in funding; March 1 virtual meeting set to assist applicants

By Molly Kron

More money is available for affordable housing developers to create new affordable homes in Marin County and preserve existing affordable units.

This year, the County of Marin is leveraging several local, state and federal funding sources and issuing a single online application for affordable housing developers to bid for a portion of the $5 million available. The Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) guidelines provide more details about the different types of funding and criteria for project eligibility.

Streamlining the application and allocation process supports developers who face high housing production costs and helps address the chronic shortage of affordable homes in Marin.

The available funding includes roughly $2.3 million in County Affordable Housing Funds (including a one-for-one match from the State Permanent Local Housing Allocation), $2.4 million in new federal funds from the American Rescue Plan, and $600,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant funds specific to housing projects.

The funds can be used for acquisition, rehabilitation, and new construction projects, although eligibility differs among the funding sources.

To address questions from potential applicants, County staff will host a virtual workshop at 1 p.m. Wednesday, March 1. Registration is open on the County’s Affordable Housing webpage. Around June, staff will present funding recommendations to the Board of Supervisors for final approval.

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Marin has some of the highest home prices and development costs in the country. The median local price for a single-family detached home has hovered around $1.5 million in recent years, and typical rents range from $2,500 to $3,400. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been increased concern about homelessness in Marin and discussions about how to stabilize renters and expand housing choices

Well before the public health emergency, the Marin County Board of Supervisors made the preservation of affordable housing and displacement prevention top priorities as more and more Marin residents expressed concern about being priced out of the county because of high rents and mortgages.

The County’s Housing & Federal Grants Division, housed within the Community Development Agency, seeks to preserve and expand the range and supply of adequate, accessible and affordable housing through housing policies, regulations and programs. The Board and CDA staff work in tandem to increase the local stock of affordable housing, thereby enhancing socioeconomic balance in local communities.

Learn more by exploring the Super-NOFA and funding application on the County’s Affordable Housing webpage. Questions may be directed to Housing staff by email (affordablehousing@marincounty.org) or by phone at (415) 473-7309.

 Molly Kron is a senior planner for the Housing and Federal Grants Division in the Marin County Community Development Agency.

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