Affordable Housing Project Underway Near La Cumbre Plaza in Santa Barbara

A digger hauled dirt on a lot near La Cumbre Plaza just minutes before the City of Santa Barbara’s Housing Authority started the site’s official groundbreaking on April 22. In about 18 months, the property, 15 South Hope Avenue, will open its doors as affordable housing for Section 8 tenants. 

“Today is more than a groundbreaking,” the Housing Authority’s Chief Executive Officer Rob Fredericks said. “It’s about building stability, dignity, and opportunity right here in Santa Barbara.” 

Fredericks addressed a crowd of project stakeholders, reporters, and local politicians while wearing a black T-shirt that said “Everyone Deserves a Home.” 

The four-story building will include 45 units: 17 studio apartments, 13 one-bedrooms, and 16 two-bedrooms, including one unit for an on-site manager. Of these apartments, 17 units are reserved for people making 30 percent or less of the area’s median income (that would be $37,080 for a single person), 13 are for folks making 50 percent of the area’s median income or less, and 15 are for people making 60 percent of the area’s median income or less. 

The building’s design is fairly modern, but architect Christian Robert said it includes nods to the nearby Mediterranean styles. 

“One of the design inspirations for the facade was actually the local terra-cotta tiles,” Robert said. “We actually found a tile that is very similar to the typical traditional roof tiles, but in a more flat format and contemporary format.” 

The Housing Authority bought the property, a vacant lot, in 2023. The former owners had already planned to build housing on the site. The Housing Authority was able to save up to three years of planning and construction time by adapting these plans. 

About half of the building’s 45 units are earmarked for low-income people with developmental disabilities — both physical and mental. These units are distributed throughout the building. The building will also include social services, such as a case manager that can connect people with counseling, healthcare, and employment help.

Fredericks told the Independent that there is a great need for low-income housing for disabled people in general. He said he knows mental-health disabilities are sometimes stigmatized, compared to physical disabilities, but that they were equally important to address.

“They’re all disabilities that people need help with, and we want to ensure that they have affordable homes to live in as well.” 

The site will include 19 parking spaces, a reduction from the original plans, which included a subterraneous garage that would have added to the project’s cost. Deputy Executive Director Dale Fathe-Aazam said that special-needs tenants have not needed the same number of parking spaces than other tenants, by and large.  

“We have other projects that we successfully have zero parking for that tenant population, and it works totally fine,” he said. 

Several sources put forward funding for this project, including a loan from the City of Santa Barbara through its Local Housing Trust Fund. This project is the first to receive money from the trust, which was created in 2024. Fredericks said that city contribution was critical to receiving a federal low-income tax credit that put forward $21 million of the nearly $44.8 million project. 

“It’s almost impossible to be competitive at the state level for the federal tax credits if you don’t have a local funding source also putting into the development,” Fredericks said. 

The Tri-Counties Regional Center, a nonprofit that serves people with developmental disabilities and their families, also contributed $1 million to the project.