The Watsonville City Council will vote on an Airport Road affordable housing development led by Habitat for Humanity Monterey Bay at its next meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 22.
The project would develop 13 affordable homes for sale to prospective first-time buyers with gross household incomes between 50% and 80% of the area median income for Santa Cruz County, depending on household size, said Lyndsey Marks, director of resource development at Habitat for Humanity Monterey Bay.
The development will include 11 three-bedroom, two-bathroom and two two-bedroom, one-bathroom semi-detached and detached homes. The homes will be built to be energy efficient and with a universal design — every home will have one downstairs bedroom and bathroom that is wheelchair accessible.
One home will be fully Americans With Disabilities Act–compliant, and another will be built with accessible features, but will not be fully compliant.
The housing project had been in development for six years before coming to the city council for a vote, said Marks. One of the reasons the organization chose Watsonville for the project is because it stands out in the area as having a critical need for affordable housing, she said.
Santa Cruz County was named the most expensive rental market in the country earlier this year, surpassing the San Francisco metro area, made up of San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties.
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