
The Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA) was established by the California State Legislature in 2019 with the goal of finding better solutions for the Bay Area’s affordable housing needs.
Since its inception, BAHFA has launched multiple pilot programs and projects across the “3Ps” — affordable housing production, affordable housing preservation and protecting low-income tenants — for the benefit of the nine-county Bay Area.
While BAHFA’s principal goal, raising regional revenue through a voter-supported ballot measure, was postponed due to adverse political and economic conditions, BAHFA’s commitment to meeting the Bay Area’s housing needs is unwavering.
Here are some of the highlights of the BAHFA team’s work in 2024 and a look ahead at plans for this year:
- Secured final approval of the BAHFA Business Plan, which lays out BAHFA’s equity framework — the equity objectives and metrics for each of the 3Ps and BAHFA programs.
- Awarded $28 million in predevelopment funding to Priority Sites Affordable Developments, advancing the construction of more than 1,600 new affordable homes. Of these awards, BAHFA has closed the first two Priority Sites Pilot Loans — Chinatown Senior Transit-Oriented Development, which will help fund 97 new homes for seniors in Oakland’s Chinatown; and the South San Francisco Public Utility Commission Site, which will support the development of 800 homes, 158 of which are affordable. Read about MTC and BAHFA’s Priority Sites work.
- Released a notice of funding availability for the $8.9 million Housing Preservation Pilot and closed the first loans to preserve 16 affordable homes in San Francisco’s Mission District and 18 homes in San Jose's Mayfair neighborhood — areas greatly impacted by rising rents and displacement of longtime residents.
- Added an online application and lottery features to the Doorway Housing Portal, a first-of-its-kind regional online portal to streamline the affordable housing search and application process in the Bay Area. In October, BAHFA staff folded the former San Mateo County Housing Portal into Doorway, to centralize search and applications for San Mateo County residents.
- Assisted affordable housing developers to preserve the affordability of 313 apartments through BAHFA’s Welfare Tax Exemption Preservation Program (WTEPP), for a total of 787 homes since the program launched in 2022.
- Awarded $5 million to Napa County Housing and Homeless Services at the end of 2023 to design and administer a rental assistance program to prevent homelessness among at-risk seniors. The program launched in mid-2024, and 33 people are currently receiving monthly rental assistance and case management support. The program is expected to continue to bring in new clients and support existing clients to stabilize and remain housed over the next three years.
- Released the 2024 Bay Area Predevelopment Pipeline Report in partnership with Enterprise Community Partners, quantifying that the Bay Area needs $9.7 billion to unlock over 40,000 homes currently in predevelopment.
Looking to the future, BAHFA remains committed to producing and preserving housing and protecting vulnerable residents in the Bay Area. This year, BAHFA will continue its current programs while also working with MTC and the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) to explore strategic expansion of housing activities, including regional convenings to continue the collaborative relationships built in 2024; further integration of BAHFA staff’s housing expertise across MTC-ABAG programs; and research into grant and philanthropic funding to expand BAHFA programs.
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