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Board approves Marin Housing oversight, grants and $500,000 loan to revive below-market triplex at 6956 Sir Francis Drake
Summary
Marin Housing will assume fiscal oversight and provide a $500,000 revocable loan to 2 Valleys Community Land Trust to rehabilitate a formerly unpermitted triplex in Forest Knolls; the board accepted $800,000 in county grants and approved oversight to preserve three permanently below-market one-bedrooms.
The Marin Housing Authority Board on June 17 voted unanimously to accept assigned county grants, provide a $500,000 revocable loan, and assume fiscal and compliance oversight for a rehabilitation project at 6956 Sir Francis Drake Boulevard in Forest Knolls.
2 Valleys Community Land Trust acquired the deteriorated, unpermitted triplex in 2023 and spent more than a year remediating blight and addressing a failed septic system that threatened a nearby creek. Changes to septic and watershed permitting limited the project to three one-bedroom units, reducing projected revenue and threatening the project’s feasibility under its original financing assumptions.
Marin Housing will step in as fiscal intermediary and accept roughly $800,000 in county grant funds (as documented in the staff report) for rehabilitation. The board also approved a $500,000 revocable loan agreement between Marin Housing and 2 Valleys Community Land Trust to provide a stabilization runway; rebuilding organizations (Rebuilding Together East Bay and Rebuilding Together Petaluma) will serve as construction partners and general contractors. After rehabilitation, 2 Valleys Community Land Trust will operate the three units as permanently below-market housing.
Speakers representing 2 Valleys and partner organizations described the arrangement as a pilot to preserve and create affordable units in rural West Marin. Board members praised the collaboration among nonprofits, Marin Housing and county funders and said the model could be replicated for other scattered-site projects.
Actions taken: the board adopted a resolution authorizing acceptance of county grants (the staff report referenced $800,000 in grants), approved the $500,000 revocable loan to 2 Valleys Community Land Trust, and voted to assume fiscal and compliance oversight for the property. All motions passed unanimously.
The board instructed staff to continue oversight and work with partners on permitting and construction. The project will proceed under the stewardship of 2 Valleys Community Land Trust once rehabilitation is complete.
