BAHFA Helps Community Land Trusts Preserve Affordable Homes

Two loans recently made by the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA) to community land trusts will preserve 34 affordable homes in San Francisco and San Jose, ensuring stable housing for people who may otherwise have been forced out by rising rents.

These loans are funded by the state Regional Early Action Planning Grant Program (REAP 2) and are part of BAHFA’s Housing Preservation Pilot Loan Program. 

In San Francisco, a loan of $4.25 million helped the San Francisco Community Land Trust (SFCLT) purchase 320-324 14th St. in the Mission District. The San Francisco Housing Accelerator Fund also provided a loan for this project, which will preserve 16 affordable homes in a neighborhood greatly impacted by rising rents and displacement of longtime residents.

The building’s tenants, mostly Latino/a/x/e residents, went on a rent strike in 2022 due to deteriorating building conditions. During their organizing, the tenants identified an interest in creating a limited equity housing cooperative, which led to conversations with SFCLT.

A community land trust is a membership-based, nonprofit organization whose mission is to create permanently affordable, resident-controlled housing for low- and moderate-income people.

In November 2023, the Prado Group acquired the building from Veritas Investments and worked with residents to address deferred maintenance issues and facilitate the property sale to SFCLT. SFCLT acquired the property in November 2024 and will now complete outstanding building repairs to bring the property into code compliance. SFCLT’s longer term goal is to partner with the tenants to transition the building into resident-ownership.

“SFCLT is thrilled to take 320-324 14th Street off the private speculative market and to bring 16 permanently affordable homes into community control,” said Kyle Smeallie, SFCLT Policy Director. “Thanks to the strong tenant organizing effort, combined with innovative funding partners at BAHFA and the Housing Accelerator Fund, we’re proud to help provide a path to permanent stability.”

In San Jose, the South Bay Community Land Trust (SBCLT) – with advisory and technical support from MidPen Housing Corporation –  purchased The Virginian Apartments in the Mayfair neighborhood and will preserve 18 homes as permanently affordable. The $4.5 million loan from BAHFA will preserve the three-building complex, which is home to mostly Latino/a/x/e residents. One-third of the households spend more than 50% of their monthly income on rent and utilities. The City of San Jose, Destination Home and local private foundation support are providing an additional $6.5 million to support rehabilitation costs.

“Future preservation projects can only be done with these types of partnerships: nonprofits, public agencies and philanthropy working in tandem to create a replicable example of how our communities can be protected from displacement,” said Josefina Aguilar, SBCLT Executive Director. “It is the first step towards SBCLT’s mission of providing a vehicle for resident control and subsequent ownership to permanently preserve affordable housing."

Most residents of both buildings have lived in their homes for more than a decade, with some calling the buildings home for 20 years or longer. Stabilizing rents under the community land trusts prevents residents from losing their homes, while residents work with the land trusts to eventually own them. 

“The BAHFA team is grateful to SFCLT and SBCLT for pursuing this important work to protect and empower residents,” said Somaya Abdelgany, BAHFA’s Preservation Program Manager. “We are proud to have worked collaboratively with such dedicated partners from the nonprofit, public and private sectors to bring these projects to fruition. We look forward to more opportunities to invest in the stability, diversity and vitality of our Bay Area communities.”

In the first half of 2025, BAHFA will make additional resources available to mission-driven organizations to advance more preservation projects. A second round of funding under the Housing Preservation Pilot will be released, with $9.05 million available for loans to community land trusts and affordable housing developers for acquisition and rehabilitation costs. BAHFA will also launch a new $325,000 Affordable Housing Preservation Technical Assistance Grant program, which will fund 7 to 13 projects for pre-acquisition consulting costs associated with converting market-rate housing to permanently restricted affordable housing.