AgdaPkt 2021.01.25 Amended Joint SA PFA

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From: To: GRP -City Council Cc: Subject: Support for Sequoia Station project part of your study session Monday Date: Friday, January 22, 20215:04:56 PM Attachments: Eden Sequoia Stn RWC letter.odf CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution when opening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders. Please find attached my detailed support letter from Housing Trust. Thank you in advance for your consideration. Mayor Howard, Vice Mayor Hale, and City Council Members c/o Diana O'Dell, Senior Planner of Redwood City City of Redwood City, Community Development Department via Email (dodell(cr�.redwoodcity.org) RE: Sequoia Station Update Dear Honorable Mayor Howard, Vice Mayor Hale, and City Council Members, We are writing regarding the upcoming Council meeting on January 25, 2020, where both the Transit District and Sequoia Station property will be discussed. We urge you to allow this project to move forward in the planning process and support the density and mix of uses that supports both transportation improvements and the development of affordable housing. Housing Trust Silicon Valley has been a part of the development of almost 20,000 housing opportunities throughout the greater Bay Area for 20 years. We believe that our communities are more diverse, sustainable, and vibrant when everyone has a safe, stable, and affordable place to live. When developers partner with a lender that both navigates financing reliability and is also a trusted leader in addressing affordable housing in the community, affordable housing becomes a reality. More specifically, we have worked with Eden Housing for many years and have collaborated with them on six developments in the last six years and have first-hand experience that Eden is a premier developer of quality, accessible affordable housing. Through our many years of providing acquisition loans for Eden we can attest that Eden not only delivers a high-quality building but also provides high-quality long-term property management and stewardship of their developments -- becoming a valuable member of the communities they do business in. As a lender focused on affordable housing, we know that the greatest challenge for an affordable housing developer is land acquisition, followed by the inaccuracies and stereotypes people put on affordable housing developments. While we believe the latter has become more understood, the former remains of critical concern. It is incredibly difficult to secure land to construct affordable units, and often the only way to fund successful land acquisition is through partnerships with market rate commercial and housing developers. Specific to Sequoia Station, we expect the commercial portion is driving this affordable housing development and unlocking the opportunity to provide up to 225 very low, low, and moderate -income homes. The opportunity to provide the largest affordable housing project in Redwood City that is directly adjacent to transit, supplies much-needed affordable family homes, and helps advance Caltrain's expansion is one that we fully support.