An important component of building an inclusive community is to provide affordable housing opportunities within Newark. The City’s general plan and municipal code provide policy direction and requirements to encourage affordable housing development. In May 2021, the City council adopted a two-year work plan to focus City staff’s affordable housing efforts in specific ways.

Allied Housing/Abode Services presented the City with an opportunity to create affordable housing through the state’s Homekey grant program, an effort to provide affordable housing in existing hotels and other buildings to low-income California households and those who are experiencing homelessness or at-risk of becoming homeless. The Homekey program and the affordable housing it enables is consistent with the City’s adopted policies and requirements.

The owner of the Towne Place Suites (TPS) extended-stay hotel in Newark and Allied Housing/Abode Services have entered into an option agreement for the sale of the property. The hotel suites would be converted into 124 supportive, affordable residential units to be known as Cedar Community Apartments.

In addition to the Homekey grant, Cedar Community Apartments would receive financial support from partner agencies throughout the county. This includes an Alameda County grant from federal HOME Investment Partnership/American Rescue Plan act funds and a grant/loan from the City. Additional support would be provided by the Housing Authority of the County of Alameda in the form of 60 federally funded, Project Based Vouchers, 12 of which would be available to extremely-low-income veterans.

City Council Meeting - September 22, 2022

As previously announced, the Cedar Community Apartments project was selected for a Homekey grant valued at $38.2 million.  

To accept the award, the City Council will consider a Homekey grant award agreement between the city and state (called a “Standard Agreement”) as well as additional agreements that set expectations and requirements between the city and Allied Housing.

City Council will consider the agreements at their regular meeting on September 22, 2022. The meeting begins at 7:00p.m. The Homekey item appears later in the agenda, so it would be heard sometime after 7:00p.m.

The materials for the September 22 meeting are available here.

On August 24, 2022, the governor announced that 35 projects across the state would receive Homekey grants, with a total grant value of approximately $700 million. The Cedar Community Apartments project was selected for a Homekey grant valued at $38.2 million. This grant would assist with the acquisition and conversation of Town Place Suite into 124 apartment units that would be affordable to extremely low-income households and households experiencing homelessness, including 11 units that would be reserved for military veterans. The grant would also assist with the provision of resident services including education and employment services.

To accept the award, the city and state would need to enter into a Homekey grant award agreement. Staff from the city and the state will prepare the agreement documentation. In addition to the Homekey grant agreement, there would be additional agreements that set expectations and requirements between the city and Allied Housing (the developer of Cedar Community Apartments). City Council is expected to consider these agreements at a regularly scheduled meeting in September.

Frequently Asked Questions and Responses

Please click here to see a list of common questions and responses related to Cedar Community Apartments.

Environmental Review

The use of federal funds and affordable housing vouchers requires a National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) environmental assessment. The County of Alameda is the Responsible Entity for this assessment. The assessment is complete; documents are available for review, here. 

March 9 Community Meeting

A community meeting was hosted by the City of Newark and Allied Housing/Abode Services on March 9, 2022. This meeting was an opportunity for the public to ask questions and provide comments. The presentation slides for this meeting are available here.

January 2022 City Council Action

On January 13, 2022, the City Council took the following actions to support Cedar Community Apartments:

1. Authorized City staff to apply to the State’s Homekey grant program for a possible grant of up to $39 million, and
2. Allocated $1.5 million of American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) funds, as well as $4.5 million from the City’s Housing Impact Fee fund to acquire Towne Place Suites with Abode Services and Allied Housing and provide resident services through the Homekey program.

Should the grant application be approved and all other financing sources secured, staff would prepare an affordable housing agreement between the City and Allied Housing to establish the terms of the City’s financial contributions and, to the extent possible, establish a priority preference for future tenants who live and work within Newark. City Council would consider the agreement at a future City Council meeting.

If you have a question or would like to provide additional comments, please send an email to planning@newark.org.

More Information

Additional information about Cedar Community Apartments can be found at the Allied Housing/Abode Services website: https://www.abodeservices.org/cedar-community