SONOMA, CA—Due to the aging Baby Boomer segment, California's senior population has been growing at a rapid pace for the past few years. Now, with the onset of an unprecedented pandemic that has sent unemployment rates soaring higher than during the Great Depression, providing affordable and safe housing for seniors and other vulnerable populations is suddenly even more crucial.

Looking to ease the affordable housing crisis that plagues the Bay Area, MBH Architects in collaboration with Jon Worden Architects assisted MidPen Housing Corporation in designing Fetters and Celestina Garden Apartments. This master-planned multi-generational affordable rental housing development for low-income families was made possible with tax credits and multiple layers of financing.

"Fetters and Celestina, both 100% affordable, would not have been able to be built with this level of affordability by traditional financing," Rick Christiani, principal and architect of MBH Architects, tells GlobeSt.com. "These developments were made possible through MidPen Housing's commitment to and history of providing high-quality affordable housing that is integrated into the surrounding community. Because they develop and manage their properties, they have established multiple layers of financing and use of tax credits that they can use to make their proforma work."