California climate and housing leaders celebrate opening of 135 state-funded affordable, sustainable homes in San Jose

San Jose, CA

California state representatives joined local officials and partners today to celebrate the grand opening of Tamien Station Apartments, a new affordable housing community just steps from convenient public transit and everyday needs.

The apartment complex, built on land owned by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), adds 135 much-needed affordable housing units south of downtown San Jose and is conveniently located right next to the Tamien Caltrain and light rail station. The development is the first transit-oriented development housing to open in more than 20 years under the portfolio of the VTA.

"Tamien Station Apartments demonstrates exactly what the Strategic Growth Council is working to achieve in California - thriving neighborhoods with walkable, affordable communities near public transit," said California Strategic Growth Council (SGC) Executive Director Erin Curtis. "With easy transportation options and on-site amenities - including a day care, food pantry and community gathering spaces - this new complex promises to enhance quality of life across the board for the neighborhood."

"Our tremendous partnership with the Strategic Growth Council and the power of cap-and-invest strengthen our ability to meet California's most critical housing needs," said Gustavo Velasquez, Director of the California Department of Housing and Community Development. "This project embodies the innovative spirit with which Governor Newsom has led focused action on affordable housing, leading to the state's largest reduction in homelessness in 15 years."

The development was partially funded by a $28.7 million grant from the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program jointly administered by SGC and HCD. AHSC is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide program that puts billions of cap-and-invest, formerly known as cap-and-trade, dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment - particularly in disadvantaged communities.

Another $3 million in funding came from HCD's Infill Infrastructure Grant program, which funds needed infrastructure improvements that make development of critically needed affordable housing possible.

About the Development

Developed by The Core Companies, Tamien has studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments reserved for households making 60% or less of the median income for Santa Clara County. That translates to a four-person household earning less than $117,000 a year.

Half of the units in the development are allocated for rapid rehousing to help those most in need access safe housing and avoid homelessness.

Access to transportation, downtown, jobs, parks and shopping-along with on-site amenities such as a day care center, a rooftop playground, a fitness room, laundry, a homework room and a food pantry-make the complex a holistic, accessible community.

"The idea behind transit-oriented development is to build housing near public transportation hubs, so residents can drop off their kids at the on-site day care, jump on a train or light rail to go to work, or get to shops, doctor's visits, and businesses without a car," said Curtis. "That means a more comfortable, healthy and affordable lifestyle for families, while reducing traffic congestion and carbon emissions for the larger community. Taking the train beats the stress of stop and go freeway traffic any day!"

The 1.6-acre site was previously a VTA-owned parking lot, and the development is part of VTA's effort to build transit-oriented communities -mixed-use, mixed-income neighborhoods connected by transit, supporting walkability, cycling, and long-term sustainability. It is now leased to Urban Co Tamien LLC, a partnership between Core and Republic Urban Properties, generating revenue to support transit services while providing affordable housing. This is the first phase of a mixed-income neighborhood development that will create a total of 555 units on the site.

Impact of California Climate Investments

The SGC recently surpassed a milestone of $5 billion in investments statewide - much of it funded by California Climate Investments.

The SGC investments:

• Fund affordable housing and transportation projects close to jobs, schools, and other daily destinations.
• Build climate resilience through protecting our productive farmlands and encouraging compact transit-oriented communities.
• Support community-led climate solutions that achieve major environmental, health, and economic benefits in California's most disadvantaged communities.

California Climate Investments funding is part of the state's cap-and-invest program, which requires polluters to buy allowances for the greenhouse gases they emit. The funding puts billions of dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment - especially in disadvantaged communities.

California Climate Investments includes 117 programs administered by 27 state agencies, with funding directly supporting the governor's work to build a California for All, meeting the housing needs throughout the state while also protecting California's climate.

California is using California Climate Investment funds to protect health, stability, and opportunity across the state.

A Housing Approach that works

From the very first moments of the Newsom administration, the national crisis of housing and homelessness - which were decades in the making - has been addressed with ingenuity, seriousness, and expertise. No other state has devoted as much time and attention to these twin problems - and California is a leader in producing positive results. Governor Newsom is creating a structural and foundational model for America:

✅ Addressing mental health and its impact on homelessness - Ending a long-standing 7,000 behavioral health bed shortfall in California by rapidly expanding community treatment centers and permanent supportive housing units. In 2024, voters approved Governor Newsom's Proposition 1 which is transforming California's mental health systems with a $6.4 billion Behavioral Health Bond for treatment settings and housing with services for veterans and people experiencing homelessness, and reforming the Behavioral Health Services Act to focus on people with the most serious illness, provide care to people with substance disorders, and support their housing needs.

✅ Creating new pathways for those who need the most help - Updating conservatorship laws for the first time in 50 years to include people who are unable to provide for their personal safety or necessary medical care, in addition to food, clothing, or shelter, due to either severe substance use disorder or serious mental health illness. Creating a new CARE court system that creates court-ordered plans for up to 24 months for people struggling with untreated mental illness, and often substance use challenges.

✅ Streamlining and prioritizing building of new housing - Governor Newsom made creating more housing a top state priority for the first time in history. He has signed into law groundbreaking reforms to break down systemic barriers that have stood in the way of building the housing Californians need, including broad CEQA reforms.

✅ Creating shelter and support - Providing funding and programs for local governments, coupled with strong accountability measures to ensure that eachlocal government is doing its share to build housing, and create shelter and support, so that people rescued from encampments have a safe place to go.

✅ Removing dangerous encampments - Governor Newsom has set a strong expectation for all local governments to address encampments in their communities and help connect people with support. In 2024, Governor Newsom filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court defending communities' authority to clear encampments. After the Supreme Court affirmed local authority, Governor Newsom issued an executive order directing state entities and urging local governments to clear encampments and connect people with support, using a state-tested model to address encampments humanely and provide people with adequate notice and support.

Reversing a decades-in-the-making crisis

The Newsom administration is making significant progress in reversing decades of inaction on homelessness. Between 2014 and 2019-before Governor Newsom took office-unsheltered homelessness in California rose by approximately 37,000 people. Since then, under this Administration, California has significantly slowed that growth, even as many other states have seen worsening trends.

In 2024, while homelessness increased nationally by over 18%, California limited its overall increase to just 3% - a lower rate than in 40 other states. The state also held the growth of unsheltered homelessness to just 0.45%, compared to a national increase of nearly 7%. States like Florida, Texas, New York, and Illinois saw larger increases both in percentage and absolute numbers. California also achieved the nation's largest reduction in veteran homelessness and made meaningful progress in reducing youth homelessness.

About the California Strategic Growth Council

The SGC is part of the governor's Cabinet, a team of state leaders who work closely with the governor to advance sustainability, equity, and quality of life across California-connecting housing, transportation, climate, and community investment.

The 10 distinguished members of the council include state-agency secretaries and directors, and three appointed members of the public. The Director of the Governor's Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation acts as its chair.

The collaborative structure of SGC provides a pathway for broad implementation across state agencies to prioritize uplifting community voices into the type of projects and resources to receive state funds.

About the California Department of Housing and Community Development

HCD helps to provide stable, safe homes affordable to veterans, seniors, young families, farmworkers, tribes, people with disabilities, and individuals and families experiencing homelessness so that every California resident can live, work, and play in healthy communities of opportunity. Since 2019, the Newsom Administration has invested over $15.4 billion through HCD's many programs to fund development of more than 66,000 affordable multifamily rental homes across the state, including those at Tamien Station.