Rep. Khanna Calls for Increased Investment in Affordable Housing in Santa Clara County

Press Release

Today, Congressman Ro Khanna (CA-17) joined Preston Prince, Santa Clara County Housing Authority Executive Director and Vince Cantore, Vice President of Core Companies, for a tour of two affordable housing sites in Santa Clara County. Rep. Khanna visited Clarendon Street Apartments, an 80-unit affordable housing community in San Jose, CA, and Agrihood Santa Clara, an urban farm housing site currently under construction.

According to the Silicon Valley Pain Index, there is an estimated shortage of 40,000 homes for extremely low-income residents meaning that 29 out of every 100 homes in the Silicon Valley are accessible to low-income households. Housing is a public good and a basic human need. Rep. Khanna's tour today focused on the need for increased investment in affordable housing in CA-17.

"The shortage of affordable housing in Santa Clara County is a persistent problem. As housing prices increase, we need to invest in increasing the number of homes that are affordable for everyone," said Rep. Ro Khanna. "We don't just need tech workers to thrive in Silicon Valley, we need all workers to thrive -- that includes firefighters, teachers, and support workers that are at the core of our community in CA-17. We need more developments like Clarendon Street Apartments and Agrihood Santa Clara. I will keep fighting to pass affordable housing legislation in Congress."

"The housing vouchers that the Housing Authority receives from the federal government are integral to expanding affordable housing opportunities in Santa Clara County, including permanent supportive housing funded through Measure A," said Santa Clara County Housing Authority Executive Director Preston Prince. I applaud Representative Khanna for his strong and consistent support for increased investment in affordable housing in our community." The Housing Authority will provide project-based rental assistance for 54 seniors at Agrihood once the property fully leases next summer.

"Agrihood is a unique public-private partnership that will provide critically needed affordable housing at Silicon Valley's first-of-its-kind urban farming community," said Vince Cantore, Vice President of Core Companies. "It was an honor to welcome Congressman Khanna to Agrihood and we appreciate him bringing attention to the great work our county partners are doing to deliver affordable housing in Santa Clara."

Rep. Khanna has introduced and cosponsored bills in Congress to help Americans secure safe and affordable housing including:

- The American Housing and Economic Mobility Act -- Controls the cost of renting or buying a home by leveraging federal funding to build up to 3.2 million new housing units for lower-income and middle-class families.
- The Manufactured Housing Community Preservation Act -- Creates a new grant program to help nonprofits, resident-formed cooperatives, and other local entities purchase and maintain an MHC through awards of up to $2 million.

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