Happy Housers Event This September

Happy Housers, A Quarterly Happy Hour Event

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Join us for a special Happy Housers Happy Hour, sponsored in partnership with our friends at Equity Forward Anchor Network (EFAN)!

You’re in for a good conversation over drinks with people who care about creating a more inclusive Silicon Valley. It’s a chance to swap ideas, make new connections, and talk about how local campuses, churches, and community institutions could help open doors for more housing.

Come curious, leave connected.

Whether you’re deep in the housing world or just curious about what’s possible, this is your space to meet new people, share ideas, and be inspired.

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September 24, 2025

Mountain View Advances Community Ownership Action Plan

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Mountain View is advancing its Community Ownership Action Plan (COAP)—a Housing Element strategy to help grassroots tenant organizations acquire and preserve homes permanently. The plan will launch a $75,000 technical-assistance grant program and a $4 million flexible loan pool designed to leverage up to $25 million for community ownership development. While it stops short of providing direct acquisition grants—an option urged by Mountain View Community Land Trust (MVCLT) and SV@Home— this is a strong starting point, with the grant program set to begin in fall 2025, prior to the final plan adoption.

The city of Mountain View has taken a step toward creating meaningful pathways for community-owned housing. On September 9, the City Council reviewed staff’s recommendations for the development of the Community Ownership Action Plan (COAP)—a key strategy in the city’s 2023-31 Housing Element (Program 3.2) to prevent tenant displacement and create community-owned housing models that aren’t served by the traditional market.

City staff, with consultant support, spent the past year working closely with a 12-member advisory committee that included emerging community-based developers such as the Mountain View Community Land Trust (MVCLT), philanthropy, and housing advocacy groups working throughout the county, like SV@Home. Stakeholders and the committee examined best practices, funding strategies, and the role of new housing models—like community land trusts and limited-equity co-ops—to meet housing needs beyond the reach of traditional affordable housing. With input from key stakeholders and consultants, staff shaped a vision and guiding principles that center on people, ensure permanent affordability, and promote shared governance. 

However, we are disappointed that the Council did not choose to direct staff to incorporate the advisory committee’s recommendation to include flexibility to issue COAP funding as either loans or grants for property acquisition. Since an emerging land trust or community-based developer would also need to acquire a commercial loan and other sources of funding to complete a development project, having a portion of the funding structured as a grant could make it easier to carry loans to cover the remaining cost.

The current proposal provides technical assistance grants but stops short of offering capital grants for acquisitions, relying instead on forgivable or zero-interest loans. MVCLT members and SV@Home highlighted this gap during the council meeting, emphasizing that grant flexibility can be crucial for the initial success of emerging community-based developers.

Councilmembers acknowledged this concern but emphasized that this framework is a strong start. They committed to revisit funding options as additional regional or local dollars become available to meet grassroots needs.

Key Provisions of the COAP

  • Vision & Principles: Housing that is permanently affordable, community-governed, and supports long-term resident well-being.
  • City Roles: Funder, capacity builder, convener, and policy leader to help local groups acquire and preserve affordable housing.
  • Flexible Funding: A recommended $4 million city commitment to leverage up to $25 million, delivered mainly through flexible loans to acquire and rehabilitate at least 50 homes.
  • Technical Assistance Grants: A new $75,000 grant program, launching in the fall of 2025, to help local nonprofits cover early costs like feasibility analysis, legal services, and pro forma development.
  • Opportunity to Purchase: Instead of creating a formal right-of-first-refusal program now, the council report states that the city will continue to monitor whether it is more feasible and practical to develop it at a later point in time.

The Community Ownership Action Plan demonstrates Mountain View’s leadership in housing innovation, responding to displacement pressures by empowering residents and community-driven nonprofits to control land and housing in the long term.  While the initial funding model relies on flexible loans, the City signaled that future funding rounds could incorporate grants—an essential tool for emerging community-based developers.

SV@Home is proud to have served on the advisory committee and will continue to work with Mountain View and local partners to ensure that new local and regional funding helps grassroots organizations succeed.