“Finally, there’s some good news,” exhaled a much-relieved Rob Fredericks, one of the South Coast’s major players when it comes to managing and building genuinely affordable housing. Fredericks had just put the finishing touches on a complicated deal that will keep the 42-unit Green Mobile Home Park, located on Punta Gorda Street on Santa Barbara’s Eastside, out of foreclosure.
Had the deal not gone through, about 42 families — including seniors and low-income working families — could have easily found themselves evicted and their park sold at auction to a private developer at the courthouse steps. Had that occurred, a modest but very significant reservoir of truly affordable housing — rents are currently just $580 a month — would have evaporated into the mists of the Santa Barbara housing market.
Based on the deal struck by Fredericks, executive director of the Santa Barbara City Housing Authority, the park will remain affordable to low-income renters for at least the next 90 years — and maybe longer — no matter who might own the land down the road.