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Mesquite Manor: Affordable Housing for Farm Workers
The latest in a series showcasing the winners of the NAHB 2004 Innovations in Workforce Housing Awards. Entries for the 2005 awards are due by Oct. 28.
A new development in Salinas, Calif., is providing homes for farm workers and other working families in an area where housing prices are fast outpacing incomes of low- and moderate-income households.
Developed by Community Housing Improvement Systems & Planning Association (CHISPA), Mesquite Manor is a 52-home subdivision located on a seven-acre parcel in northeast Salinas. Because of skyrocketing house prices, CHISPA worked with the city and local residents to rezone the land from commercial to residential. Salinas is in Monterey County, about 15 miles northeast of Monterey.
“With the collaborative efforts of the City of Salinas Farmworker Housing Initiative program, County of Monterey, U.S. Department of Agriculture, California Housing Finance Agency, Bank of America, California Department of Housing and Community Development, Community Bank of Central California and, most importantly, the surrounding neighbors, CHISPA was able to provide much needed housing to the hard working resident of Salinas,” said David Cooke, director of real estate development for CHISPA, who accepted the award.
Of the 52 homes, 25 were homes constructed and owned by eligible farm worker families participating in CHISPA’s mutual self-help housing program. Families in the program have household earnings that are 80% or less of median family income for Monterey County. Many of the participants are employed by several of the largest agricultural growers in the county.
The remaining 27 homes provided first-time homeownership opportunities for households earning 120% or less of the county’s median household income. These included teachers, nurses, city and county employees, entry-level professionals and special-needs households, such as those caring for foster children or developmentally disabled adults.
 The one- and two-story homes in the award-winning project were built by CHISPA’s subsidiary construction company Central Coast Residential Builders. The homes were sold through a lottery to qualified applicants at prices affordable to the individual households at their income level.
The Mesquite Manor homes, which range from 1,100 to 1,500 square feet, all have two baths and three or four bedrooms. There are five different floor plans and multiple elevations on 4,000 to 5,000 square-foot lots.
The homes are built with wood-frame construction, slab foundations, stucco exteriors, tile roofs and two-car garages. A park, elementary school, shopping center and public transportation are all within walking distance of the neighborhood.
“The Innovation in Workforce Housing Awards emphasize creativity in community design, financing and in partnering with other community groups,” said Bobby Rayburn, immediate past president of NAHB and a home and apartment builder from Jackson, Miss. “Mesquite Manor is an excellent example of a development that is meeting the needs of working families in a very expensive housing market.”
Entries for the 2005 Innovations in Workforce Housing Awards Now Being Accepted
The 2005 Innovations in Workforce Housing Awards are open to builders, architects, designers, developers and land planners for communities completed (or for which the first model opened or the first unit was occupied) between Jan. 1, 2003 and Oct. 28, 2005 All entries, including supporting materials, should be postmarked by Oct. 28 to be eligible for inclusion in the competition. Winning entries will be announced at the 2006 International Builders’ Show in Orlando, Fla.
For more information about entry guidelines, or to get a copy of the entry form, go to www.nahb.org/workforcehousing or e-mail Blake Smith, or call him at 800-358-5242 x8583.
Next week: Collaboration Helps Developer Build Affordable Homes
Award photo by Oscar Einzig Photographers
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