Applications opened Monday for the 100% affordable, 87-unit Maudelle Shirek Community building currently under construction near Ashby BART in South Berkeley.
The project is a key piece of affordable housing construction in the Adeline Corridor and will one day be kitty-corner to 1,200 homes and a new plaza planned at the current Ashby BART parking lot. Resources for Community Development says the projected opening date will come this spring.
Apply for affordable housing online by Feb. 12
Once open, the building will have 18 studios, 21 one-bedrooms, 26 two-bedrooms and 22 three-bedrooms with free basic internet connection, as well as a ground floor courtyard with children’s play areas, laundry room and bicycle parking, according to RCD.
According to the Alameda County housing application, 75 of those units are currently open.
Future residents must make between 30%-60% of the area median income (AMI), which translates to between $31,080 to $ $62,1600 annually for a one-person household. There are also 10 units reserved for people with Section 8 vouchers that cover some or all of a voucher holder’s rent.
Under the city’s new affordable housing preference policy, applicants will be the top priority if they’re descendants of Berkeley families whose homes were cleared to make way for BART in the 1960s. Priority will also go to people who are homeless or are at risk of homelessness (without priority on the county’s Coordinated Entry list), and those who lost their homes to foreclosure or lived, or currently live in formerly redlined neighborhoods.
More details are available in the online application, which has a deadline of Feb. 12. The city is also scheduling appointments for residents who need help obtaining a foreclosure certificate.
Applications will be reviewed on a lottery basis until all the spots are filled, and there is a 3,000-person cutoff for the waiting list. Applicants will be notified by email or postal mail of their position on the waiting list after the lottery or if they didn’t make the cutoff.
If it’s your first time applying for affordable housing in Berkeley, Berkeleyside’s Affordable Housing Guide can answer some of your questions about how to start the process and what you can expect when you apply.
