Lodi Housing Project Gets $3M in Regional Funding

Program distributes nearly $12M to county developments facing funding gaps

A Lodi senior affordable housing project is among four developments across San Joaquin County that will receive nearly $12 million in regional funding to help create 421 affordable homes.

The San Joaquin Council of Governments Board of Directors, acting as the San Joaquin Regional Housing Fund Inc. Board, has approved its first allocation of $11.85 million to help bridge funding gaps for affordable housing projects in Lodi, Manteca, Stockton and Tracy.

Lodi Commons at Salas Park, a project by the Housing Authority of San Joaquin County, will receive $3 million toward the construction of 54 affordable homes.

The other projects receiving funding are:

• Airport Way Apartments in Manteca by TPC Housing: $2.85 million for 214 homes.
• The Junction in Tracy by CRP Affordable Housing and Community Development: $3 million for 45 homes.
• The Don Shalvey Apartments in Stockton by Visionary Home Builders: $3 million for 108 homes.

“Using the fund to give more people shelter and the opportunity to thrive is vital to our region’s future,” said SJCOG and Regional Housing Fund Board Chair Gary Singh, who also serves as mayor of Manteca. “We’re really putting our money where our mouths are when it comes to expanding affordable housing in San Joaquin County. I think we’re all proud that we’re able to do this.”

The board also approved setting aside $750,000 for one of three alternate projects — one in Escalon and two in Stockton — based on their ranking. If the highest-ranked project cannot use the funding, it will be offered to the next project on the list. If none of the projects can use the money, it will be reserved for future affordable housing needs.

The Regional Housing Fund has been years in the making and received a major boost earlier this year when it secured nearly $5 million from the California Department of Housing and Community Development’s Local Housing Trust Fund and nearly $3 million from Health Net. That funding was combined with the $5 million previously committed by the SJCOG Board. The housing fund board hopes the region’s investment will attract additional state and philanthropic funding for affordable housing projects.

“Our initial goal was simple — to help the San Joaquin region help itself, much like we’ve done with our successful Measure K half-cent sales tax measure for transportation improvements,” SJCOG Deputy Director of Planning Kim Anderson said. “We heard over and over again from affordable housing developers and other experts that capital attracts capital. We get more attention from a variety of funders when we can show success in funding projects ourselves.”

SJCOG created the housing fund to help its member jurisdictions develop and preserve affordable housing. The effort began with a housing needs assessment in December 2022, followed by a financial feasibility study in February 2023 and an administrative assessment and plan in June 2024.

In September 2024, SJCOG created a project pipeline to identify potentially eligible projects throughout the county. Projects were evaluated based on factors including whether they added new rental units, readiness to begin construction, the number and percentage of extremely low-income units, funding efficiency and geographic distribution.