The project partnership of Lowney Architecture, a multidisciplinary architecture and planning firm, Cahill Contractors, Mayers Architecture and Allied Housing, the supportive housing development entity of Abode Services, announces the opening of Calabazas Community Apartments. The new development delivers housing and on-site supportive services to formerly unsheltered populations and households at or below 60% AMI (area median income). Calabazas Community Apartments is the first supportive housing complex in the City of Santa Clara.
“Calabazas is a thoughtful, holistic approach to addressing the region’s housing crisis with people-centric strategies that promote stable living as well as health and wellbeing,” said Lowney Architecture Senior Project Manager Jordan Rose. “Leveraging Housing First principles and responsible urban planning, this development is already enhancing the lives of its residents through truly meaningful support and simultaneously uplifting the overall community. Lowney is proud to be a partner in delivering this exceptional resource that’s set up to make a real impact on people’s lives.”
The five-story, fully ADA-accessible building is situated on a single-acre property and comprised of 144 studio apartments and a one-bedroom manager’s unit. Nearly half of the units are reserved for individuals who are houseless, or on the verge. Each studio features a private bathroom, kitchen and living room/sleeping area. The shared amenities and community spaces are designed to foster an optimal environment for building community, promoting mental healing and supporting self-stabilization. On-site amenities include property management and social services offices, a laundry room, community room, computer lab and a pet-friendly, gated yard.
“Abode Services through its development partner, Allied Housing, is proud to bring Calabazas Community Apartments online as an affordable, supportive housing resource for the South Bay Area,” said Abode Services Senior Project Manager Jared Wright. “Calabazas represents a successful public-private partnership for ending the causes of homelessness, made possible by the willingness of local and state leadership and the Santa Clara County community, who overwhelmingly supported Measure A to prioritize housing as a human right.”
In addition to delivering much-needed housing to the area, Calabazas also provides wrap-around support services and care. Abode Services, the Bay Area’s largest provider of unsheltered and low-income services, will provide on-site social services, such as job assistance, financial literacy, computer training, case management and health education to support residents in living more stable lives. Within a mile of the development are Caltrain’s Lawrence Station, bus lines and a growing list of off-site amenities along Lawrence Expressway, allowing residents easy access to transportation and integration into the neighborhood. Also soon to be situated on the property is Kifer Senior Apartments, a separate, permanent, supportive housing development geared toward seniors.
“At Abode Services, we believe everyone should have a home, and the residents with which we partner deserve respect and dignity in their process to put their lives back together,” said Abode Services CEO Louis Chicoine. “This new housing community, Calabazas Community Apartments, immediately will provide that opportunity for more than 140 individuals, combining homes and services to some of our most vulnerable neighbors.”
