Council approves SAHA Thornton Avenue plan to provide on‑site affordable units instead of impact fee

The Newark City Council on April 10 adopted a resolution allowing the Thornton Avenue Apartments project, proposed by Satellite Affordable Housing Associates (SAHA), to meet the city's affordable‑housing requirement by providing 58 on‑site low‑income units instead of paying the city’s affordable housing impact fee for the 59‑unit development.

City staff told the council the project is entirely affordable and will contain apartments restricted to very low, low and extremely low incomes. Michael Coolums, the city's housing policy and programs manager, said the five‑story, 59‑unit building was designed in part to provide larger family units and set aside 15 units — about 25% of the total — for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities who receive services from the Regional Center of the East Bay.

The approval follows a unanimous set of planning commission entitlements on March 25 that included density bonus, design review, a minor use permit and a tentative parcel map. The council vote adopted the planning commission’s recommendation to accept on‑site units as an alternative means of compliance to the city’s affordable housing impact fee.

Why it matters: Newark’s housing element and recent local policy work emphasize adding family‑sized affordable homes and housing for special‑needs households. City staff said taking ownership of the site and leasing it to SAHA was intended to improve the project’s competitiveness for scarce state financing.

Project details and financing: The site is roughly a half‑acre at 109 units per acre on Thornton…