Canal Alliance aims to preserve 100 affordable housing units in the next two years
Canal Alliance has purchased four apartments at 1340-1342 Lincoln Ave. in San Rafael, permanently protecting these affordable units from speculative market pressures. This most recent acquisition advances Canal Alliance’s long-term strategy to preserve 100 affordable housing units by 2028, ensuring more Marin families can remain rooted in their community. Additionally, this purchase demonstrates how mission-driven capital can preserve housing before it is lost to speculative investment and allow Canal Alliance to compete at market speed to protect affordable housing for working families.
“This acquisition is about more than four apartments,” said Omar Carrera, CEO of Canal Alliance. “This acquisition demonstrates that community-controlled capital can compete with speculative capital, creating a model that can be replicated across Marin County.”
Each acquisition depends on public agencies, mission-aligned lenders, foundations and community partners working together. The purchase of this property on Lincoln Avenue marks Canal Alliance’s first use of its newly established Rapid Acquisition Resource Pool, a flexible fund designed to allow the agency to act quickly when preservation opportunities arise. To date, the pool has received a $2 million program-related investment loan from the San Francisco Foundation and an additional $500,000 in from a donor, bringing the fund total to $2.5 million toward a goal of raising $10 million.
“Having these funds readily available helps Canal Alliance compete with other investors and close on a faster timeline — an advantage sellers often prefer,” said Karen Rodriguez, Canal Alliance’s chief financial officer. “This is Canal Alliance’s second affordable housing acquisition in just three years, reflecting meaningful progress at a time when nonprofits face an especially challenging financial climate.”
Acquisitions like this one are especially urgent in Marin, Canal Alliance leaders said, where limited housing options, low rental vacancy rates, and growing climate pressures are converging. For decades, these overlapping challenges have impacted immigrant and low-income families most of all, with more than 70% of Marin County’s Hispanic residents living below the poverty line in San Rafael’s Canal neighborhood, and more than half of those households spending over 50% of their income on rent.
Canal Alliance’s latest acquisition buttresses its work to advance housing justice in Marin County, which pairs affordable housing acquisition with tenant rights education and advocacy, housing navigation services, rental assistance and homeownership counseling.
Canal Alliance’s approach also includes improving units over time to ensure they remain in good living condition while identifying electrification opportunities that reduce the burden of electricity bills for tenants. To date, with the support of Grid Alternatives, Marin Community Foundation and rebate programs, Canal Alliance has installed solar panels at its previously acquired properties: Marin Villa, located in the Canal neighborhood, and more recently at 1400 Lincoln Ave.
With 25 units now under ownership, Canal Alliance remains focused on its goal of preserving 100 affordable housing units by 2028.
Be the first to comment on "APARTMENT PURCHASE SUPPORTS COLLABORATIVE FUNDING MODEL"