City Council OKs Grant to Burbank Housing to Purchase Affordable Housing
The Sonoma City Council on July 16 unanimously authorized City Manager David Guhin to develop and execute an agreement with Burbank Housing, a North Bay nonprofit developer, to purchase and preserve 18 affordable housing units in the city.
The vote marks a follow-up to the council’s June 18 action approving a $250,000 Affordable Housing Grant to support Burbank Housing’s acquisition and rehabilitation of the units, which had previously been subsidized but were at risk of losing affordability protections because of the owners’ intent to sell the properties.
The $250,000 grant, which comes from the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund, is contingent upon Burbank Housing securing the necessary finance for the purchase of the units on or before Dec. 31, 2025.
The properties include 673 First St. West, known as Setzer Senior Affordable Apartments, which includes eight units affordable to low income (80% of area median income or AMI) senior households; and 270 First St. East, known as Maysonnave Apartments, which includes 10 units affordable to low income (80% AMI) households.
Members of council expressed their excitement about the project, before voting to pass the motion unanimously.
“When we survey our citizens, affordable housing is one of their top priorities,” said Council Member Sandra Lowe. “So we are, in fact, doing something tonight that is a priority of the people of Sonoma and I’m just so glad that we have this resource.”
Burbank Housing owns and manages more than 70 affordable communities across the region, including Sonoma’s Cabernet Apartments, a seven-unit senior housing complex, and the 30-unit Firehouse Village. The organization specializes in housing for low- to moderate-income households, seniors, families, farmworkers, and individuals with disabilities.
“This is great, it’s fantastic, the landowner did what they were supposed to do,” said Caitlyn Cornwall, a representative of the Sonoma Valley Collaborative and a senior project manager at the Sonoma Ecology Center, during public comment. “This is a great thing and we need to do even more of it.”
The 18 units targeted in this agreement are expected to remain permanently affordable as part of Sonoma’s long-term housing strategy. While the full project scope and timeline have not been finalized, city officials say the grant will serve as seed funding to launch the preservation effort.
The action supports Sonoma’s Affordable Housing Program, which was established in 1992 and now oversees more than 100 deed-restricted units. The program includes prequalification for affordable units, annual compliance monitoring, and long-range housing preservation goals.
As Burbank Housing moves forward with due diligence, upgrades, and affordability planning, the City of Sonoma has pledged to keep residents informed of the project's progress.
Residents interested in applying for future affordable units or learning more about the city’s housing initiatives are encouraged to visit sonomacity.org and sign up for notification lists.