Home at Montara in San Mateo
Montara: Combining affordable homes, services, and community in Bay Meadows
In November 2020, San Mateo celebrated the ribbon-cutting of Montara, 68 affordable apartment homes located on the redeveloped former site of the Bay Meadows horse racing track.
Montara’s 167 residents live in a transit-rich location that is walking and biking distance to many of San Mateo’s economic and educational opportunities. By combining affordable homes with inclusive placemaking and services, Montara is narrowing the gap and providing opportunities for brighter futures. As new resident Karenrose Naval says, “For me, home is somewhere I know I can be safe. Not just within our unit but the whole community we’re living with.”
The property features one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments affordable to families and individuals with incomes up to 30%-60% of Area Median Income. Thirty-four of the homes offer even deeper affordability with Project-Based Section 8 subsidies, 12 apartments are set aside for formerly homeless veterans referred from Veterans Affairs, and four homes serve residents referred via the San Mateo County Continuum of Care.
On-site amenities include a large community room, a multipurpose room, a laundry lounge that overlooks the landscaped podium courtyard and play structure, and a services suite where providers can meet individually or in small groups with residents as needed.
A full-time on-site service coordinator provides case management and enrichment programming to all residents of Montara. Additionally, the formerly homeless veterans are all assigned a Case Manager through the HUD-VASH program. Together they develop a Housing Stabilization Plan, a recovery-focused plan that identifies housing needs and sets treatment goals that engage active participation from the veterans.
Montara is set within the Bay Meadows Phase II Specific Plan Amendment area, which consists of 83 acres and is master-planned to include mixed-use transit-oriented developments including housing, retail, office, and school uses as well as a 12-acre community park.
Developer: BRIDGE Housing
Architect: Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects
General Contractor: Cahill Contractors
Financial Partners: City of San Mateo, County of San Mateo, San Mateo County Department of Housing, National Equity Fund, Silicon Valley Bank, Walker Dunlop, HEART of San Mateo County, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, California Tax Credit Allocation Committee
Resident Services: Abode Services
For more information about Montara, visit https://bridgehousing.com/properties/montara/