Santa Rosa poised to land $25 million grant package for housing, rail projects

Santa Rosa, in partnership with SMART and a Bay Area affordable housing developer, is in line to receive nearly $26 million in grant money to fund a range of projects including new housing in Roseland and an extension of the North Bay passenger rail system.

The state grant - awarded to the city of Santa Rosa, the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit system and Foster City-based MidPen Housing - is part of more than half a billion dollars recommended for award this week by the California Strategic Growth Council, a state agency with a broad mandate that includes increasing the availability of affordable housing and improving transportation.

The $25.8 million grant package includes $15 million for construction of 75 units of affordable housing at MidPen’s Roseland Village development, on county-owned land on Sebastopol Road. Plans for the project, estimated to cost upwards of $65 million, also call for up to 100 units of market-rate housing.

The funding package includes $5 million for the 3-mile extension of the SMART system north from Santa Rosa to Windsor, a project with a price tag of at least $65 million. SMART also will receive $225,000 for work related work on the Joe Rodota Trail and the downtown Santa Rosa station, said SMART spokeswoman Julia Gonzalez.

An additional $3.9 million is set to fund various Santa Rosa projects, including the purchase of an electric bus.

The grant awards are set to be made final on June 25.