In the City of Thousand Oaks, there has been a severe shortage of for-sale homes for moderate and lower-income families. Working to address this issue, in 2021, the City of Thousand Oaks purchased a 3.87-acre parcel located at 384 N. Erbes Road at the corner of Hillcrest Drive and identified it as surplus land set aside for affordable housing development. In 2022, the City requested proposals from various developers to partner with the City to develop this site specifically for affordable for-sale housing.
McCarthy Companies (builder) partnered with People’s Self-Help Housing Corp., a San Luis Obispo-based nonprofit developer, as well as DiCecco Architecture (architect), Housing Trust Fund Ventura County and Housing Land Trust of Ventura County, Ventura County Community Development Corporation (homeownership counselor) to submit a proposal to develop, design and build this community. Led by developer People’s Self Help Housing, this team was ultimately selected by the City in late 2022 to be the Hillcrest Homes development team. This new 78-home community will offer lower-income residents of Thousand Oaks an affordable place to live.
The Climate of Affordable Housing in Southern California
As our years in the industry grow, we have found that to successfully create affordable housing communities like Hillcrest, it takes a creative village – a village composed of government support, community leaders, housing development teams, and financial institutions. It’s difficult to build housing that can be affordable for lower-income families. Fixed housing costs are unchangeable as it relates to material and labor. So, how is this accomplished?
Resourceful partners with creative solutions like what the City of Thousand Oaks has offered by contributing this surplus land (a value of approximately $10M) to the Hillcrest Homes project – removing the cost of land means significantly reducing the cost of each home.
This donation will be a springboard for 78 new homeowners to build equity and stability through homeownership.
Enacting Change Through Partnership
The leading developer, People’s Self Help Housing, reached out to McCarthy to partner as their builder for this new community due to McCarthy’s depth of experience building affordable for-sale and for-rent homes.
This collaboration, in partnership with multiple other local organizations, makes this development possible. We are honored to work alongside The City of Thousand Oaks, the Housing Trust Fund of Ventura County and the Land Trust of Ventura County, DiCecco Architecture, and Ventura County Community Development Corp – all essential players on this team. It is a privilege to come together with this amazing group of individuals and organizations who, together, can enact significant change for those in need.
Hillcrest Homes
Though a continuous work in progress, the design approach for this community is to create 78 townhome-style for-sale homes designed in a context that’s sensitive to the surrounding neighborhood . These homes will incorporate energy-efficient and water-conserving systems with an emphasis on greenhouse gas reduction.
Hillcrest home prices will be affordable for households earning up to 80% and 120% area median income (AMI), with costs targeted not to exceed ~35% of household income.
Our goal at McCarthy is to produce housing that meets the needs of each resident and the surrounding community. With developments like Hillcrest Homes, public-private partnerships create opportunities for us to carry out our mission of making a difference in our community by building more affordable housing. The Hillcrest Homes project is just the beginning of helping to address one of the City’s most recognizable issues while also providing hope and stability to many.
From apartments to townhomes, studios to houses, People’s Self Help Housing builds affordable homes with site-based services that offer opportunities to change lives and strengthen communities on the Central Coast of California. In addition to their rentals, since 1970, PSHH has been championing homeownership opportunities through the self-build model. Over 1,200 homes later, PSHH continues to help households build a firm foundation for their futures.
Created in 2008 to respond to the needs of affordable housing developments, Housing Trust Fund, Ventura County is the local trusted leader in helping to increase affordable housing options throughout Ventura County. They leverage public-private partnerships to provide low-cost, flexible loans early in the housing development cycle.
