MOUNTAIN VIEW — An affordable housing project is moving forward following the culmination of a more than year-long search to find a suitable buyer for a Mountain View site in a prime location.
CRP Affordable Housing and Community Development paid just over $10 million to purchase a site totaling 0.6 acres at 334 San Antonio Road, off California Street, according to documents filed Sept. 20 with the Registrar’s Office of Santa Clara County.
In early 2023, commercial real estate firm Marcus & Millichap began seeking a buyer for the site on behalf of the seller, a business entity led by Naresh Krishnamoorti, an Alameda resident and Bay Area real estate executive.
For more than a year, Marcus & Millichap brokers Kirk Trammell, David Cutler and Joshua Johnson searched for a buyer. It became apparent in the early stages of the search that market rate housing developers were not interested in purchasing the site.
This is partly because building market-rate housing is more expensive than building affordable housing, particularly in the current period of skyrocketing inflation and rising interest rates, making the expensive construction financing.
“Interest rates increased significantly from the previous year and most developers were not actively acquiring new development sites,” said Marcus & Millichap investment specialist Kirk Trammell.
This forced Marcus & Millichap to look elsewhere for a potential buyer.
“With market-rate developers out of the way, we knew the likely buyer would be an affordable housing developer who could increase the number of units on the site,” Trammel said.
CRP Affordable Housing and Community Development has proposed a 100-unit affordable housing project on the site.
The project is currently going through the Mountain View review process. It was not immediately clear how long that process would take.
Additionally, CRP Affordable Housing is expected to secure construction financing. In addition to conventional financing, affordable housing projects often receive funds secured by state agency financing, bonds, or tax credits.
“The site has an excellent location for multi-family residences,” Marcus & Millichap said. “It is less than a third of a mile from Caltrain and within walking distance of retailers such as Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Target, Walmart, Safeway, CVS and many restaurants.”
