On October 24 we celebrated the opening of Grand Oak Apartments in South San Francisco. Grand Oak features 43 new one-, two- and three-bedroom family apartment homes. The development is located one mile from downtown, with easy access to shopping, transit and community facilities. Also recently completed: Irvington Terrace, the affordable rental component of Fremont’s new mixed-income, master planned community, Irvington Village and Arroyo Point Apartments, which provides 70 new for-rent homes affordable to working families in Santa Rosa. Local shopping and transportation are abundant, and there are plans for a light-rail stop nearby. Please join us at upcoming BRIDGE celebrations, including a groundbreaking at Mission Walk in San Francisco on December 3. Stay tuned for the grand opening of Woodbury Walk in Irvine and groundbreakings at Armstrong Townhomes in San Francisco and 14th Street Apartments in Oakland.

A recent Center for Housing Policy study of 31 metropolitan areas found that Los Angeles had the highest rate of working families with “critical housing needs” as both renters and homeowners. With the opening of our office in Los Angeles, we are looking forward to working with partners to meet those needs. Philip Williams is heading up our efforts and is based in our new office at:

555 West 5th Street, Suite 3100
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Tel: 213.996.8415
Fax: 213.996.8414

The MacArthur BART Transit Village, BUILD's joint venture with McGrath Properties in Oakland, will include market-rate homes, retail space and affordable housing. After many months of planning and community input, the environmental impact report is scheduled for release in December. The U.S. Green Building Council selected this project to be part of its new LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Neighborhood Development pilot program. With an adopted environmental impact report and entitlements completed on a four-acre site in Palo Alto, BUILD has completed its work on the 901 San Antonio property and Regis Homes of Northern California will now begin construction on new homes. BUILD worked with the city to leverage the 15 required inclusionary homes into the opportunity to build 56 apartments for very low-income seniors, plus create a mortgage assistance program targeted to the local workforce. Grading has commenced on 14th Street Apartments, the third project within Central Station. Located in West Oakland, Central Station encompasses 29 acres and will ultimately include up to 1,500 new homes surrounding the rehabilitated former Union Pacific train station. Pulte Homes purchased a site from BUILD and along with Holliday Development are now currently under construction with new projects within the master plan area. 14th Street Apartments is a 99-unit development by BRIDGE that will be affordable to working families earning between 30 and 50% Area Median Income.

Surveys show that 25 percent of people who move out of BRIDGE apartments are moving into their own homes. Our HomeBricks affiliate helps interested consumers identify and purchase below-market-rate homes, while providing comprehensive services to developers and municipalities tracking and selingl these deed-restricted homes. HomeBricks is currently marketing 66 homes in three developments and will have several hundred more available in 2008 and 2009. On the recently upgraded HomeBricks website, consumers can create private accounts to receive updates and track their status on multiple ownership opportunities. To date, more than 10,000 prospective homebuyers have registered.

The Alan and Ruth Stein Educational Assistance Program was founded in 2001 to help adult BRIDGE residents pursue their educational goals and build greater economic security for themselves and their families. In September, at the annual awards luncheon sponsored by Citibank, North America, 13 residents received up to $5,000 each to help pay for tuition and other expenses not covered by traditional scholarships, such as child care, transportation and books. Scholarship recipient and school office manager Fatima Fuentes plans to expand her career opportunities by improving her English language skills. She is attending daily English as a Second Language classes at Cañada College and is also pursuing a certificate in office administration. Meet all the Stein recipients. The next application cycle begins in January 2008. To donate to the scholarship fund or other resident services programs, please call us at 415.989.1111 or visit our website.

Rebecca Hlebasko was named Vice President and General Counsel for BRIDGE in February 2007. She has more than 25 years of experience in all areas of transactional real estate law, including development, sales and acquisitions, financing, ground lease transactions, equity investment, entity formation, leasing and portfolio management.

Becky was drawn to transactional real estate law in particular because of the long-term collaboration it entails. “I really enjoy working with clients to create something that becomes part of the community,” she states.

Previously, at the law firm of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP, Becky represented BRIDGE and BUILD as well as other housing developers and bank community lending departments. She holds a B.A. from Fordham University and a J.D. from Yale Law School.

In April 2007, the BRIDGE Board of Directors was pleased to elect new member Mary V. King, Assistant General Manager for Communications and External Affairs at the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District. A life long resident of Oakland, she was the first African American woman to be elected as an Alameda County Supervisor. Mary was re-elected twice and served as President of the Board for two years. Before seeking elected office, she held key positions in government, including Chief of Staff to California State Legislator Bill Lockyer (now state Treasurer) and Chief of Staff to Oakland Mayor Lionel J. Wilson. “Mary has been a longtime champion of strengthening communities, and she has exceptional experience with housing, land use and transportation issues,” notes BRIDGE President Carol Galante. “We are delighted that she has joined the BRIDGE Board.”