Tyree McCary spent time in a crowded San Jose homeless shelter before moving into a sixth-floor studio in January at The Charles, a 99-unit apartment complex near Happy Hollow Park & Zoo. The 36-year-old, who moved to the Bay Area from Fresno two years before, now pays nothing toward rent — not a dollar — and won’t until early 2028.
His arrangement is possible because of a wave of bond-funded affordable housing construction reshaping parts of San Jose and Oakland, according to The Mercury News. The Charles cost $87.5 million to build, with the expense shared between service providers and local governments, and Santa Clara County’s Measure A bond contributed $12.5 million toward it, per the same report. The development, built by Blach Construction and designed by David Baker Architects, includes 49 Rapid Rehousing units set aside for people exiting homelessness and 48 units reserved for households earning between 30% and 50% of the area’s median income, according to the County of Santa Clara.
The building is named for Charles Preston, an advocate for unhoused people who died in 2017. Preston served as director of psychology services for the Valley Homeless Healthcare Program at Santa Clara Valley Healthcare and frequently provided medical and mental health care to unhoused residents at The Jungle, a large homeless encampment on Coyote Creek near the site where The Charles now stands, according to the county. Charities Housing built and operates the complex, which serves low-income and formerly homeless people and offers counseling, resume workshops and credit repair, the article notes.
Bond Money Behind the Building Boom
Santa Clara County voters approved the $950 million Measure A bond in 2016, and the county has since awarded about $402 million of it to 39 affordable developments in San Jose, which together total more than 4,000 units, per the same account. Those 39 Measure A developments already include nearly 1,000 supportive housing units in operation, and county officials say the county has built or has in development more than 5,700 affordable homes overall, with roughly 2,420 units completed and plans for 4,800 new affordable homes. James Williams said Measure A-supported construction is creating lasting affordability and pathways out of homelessness, the report states…