Press Release from Marin County.
Nonprofit developers overseeing creation of a new affordable housing neighborhood in Point Reyes Station may soon receive an injection of financial support from the County of Marin.
The former U.S. Coast Guard family housing complex at 100 Commodore Webster Drive, purchased by the County in 2019, is being transformed into 54 affordable homes for qualified individuals and families by Eden Housing and the Community Land Trust of West Marin (CLAM). No one has lived at the 33-acre site, a half mile east of downtown Point Reyes Station, since the Coast Guard designated it as surplus in 2014.
The Marin County Supervisors on Tuesday, March 25, plan to consider approving loans worth $9,483,635 toward the project that will provide housing for extremely low and low-income households earning between 30% ($58,740 for a household of four) and 60% ($117,480) of the area median income level for Marin County.
The project, to cost an estimated $55.4 million, was permitted in August 2024. It’s the largest affordable housing project to date in West Marin. The developers are targeting an opening date of 2027.
The property has 36 townhomes and a 24-room barracks that are destined for remodeling. The proposed mix of rental housing units, from one to four bedrooms, will provide critical housing for seniors, families and local workers, including agricultural workers. The complexities for the project come from the quality of construction and the condition of the buildings, and the need for wastewater infrastructure that is not in place now.
West Marin has a severe shortage of workforce housing options, and the conversion of the property from military personnel housing to permanently affordable units could improve living standards and quality of life for lower-earning workers.
The Marin County Community Development Agency (CDA), which has worked to facilitate the repurposing of the property as affordable housing for more than a decade, is recommending the loan of $9,483,635. In its evaluation, CDA said it recommended the funding because of the experience and financial capacity of the developers, the feasibility, readiness, and sustainability of the project, and successful community building and engagement.
Of the proposed loan total, $4,493,635 would come from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and $4,990,000 from Measure W transient occupancy tax revenue. West Marin voters passed Measure W in 2018 to tax visitors staying in short-term rental properties 4% to help fund long-term community housing projects and emergency services within the tax area.
If approved, this would be the fourth time the Board authorized use of the Affordable Housing Trust Fund to support the Commodore Webster property. Between 2021 and 2023, $906,365 was used to help cover costs of predevelopment expenses and environmental reviews.
The Board is considering amendments to an exclusive negotiating agreement that was originally approved in 2021. The original agreement formalized the County’s intent to negotiate and transfer ownership of the property to the developers for $1, consistent with the County’s past practices for selling land to increase the local supply of affordable housing. The new amendments would allow Eden and CLAM to make the project competitive as possible for additional state funding.
More information on the long-term development plans are on the CLAM website.
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