By Monterey Bay Economic Partnership President & CEO Tahra Goraya & Housing Trust Silicon Valley Chief Executive Officer Noni Ramos
(June 26, 2026 — Marina, CA) — When people think about economic development, they often picture business recruitment, job creation, and new industries. But one of the most important foundations of a healthy economy is housing.
Without attainable homes that workers, families, and seniors can afford, businesses struggle to attract talent, hospitals face staffing shortages, teachers are forced to live far from the communities they serve, and young people leave the region altogether.
More than a decade ago, Monterey Bay Economic Partnership (MBEP) recognized that solving the region’s housing crisis, and the economic and social issues that come with it, would require a new approach — one that brought together public, private, and philanthropic partners to provide flexible capital for affordable and workforce housing.
That vision led to the creation of the Monterey Bay Housing Trust, which serves as a model for how to increase the supply of affordable housing for low-income individuals and families.
Established by MBEP in partnership with Housing Trust Silicon Valley, the Monterey Bay Housing Trust was designed to fill a critical financing gap to help fund the acquisition, predevelopment and construction of affordable housing in the Monterey Bay Region. The Monterey Bay Housing Trust is a revolving loan fund, meaning as loans are repaid, that money goes right back out to finance the next project.
Developers often need early-stage funding to secure land, move projects through planning, and compete for state and federal tax credits. Traditional financial institutions are rarely structured to provide this type of patient, mission-driven capital.
That’s where Housing Trust Silicon Valley (“HT”) came in. HT is a leader in affordable housing finance, making housing opportunities possible in one of the most expensive housing markets in the country. For 26 years, HT has worked with public and private partners together to move creative housing solutions forward that would not happen otherwise, and the Monterey Bay Housing Trust is a strong example of that work in practice.
Housing Trust has partnered with MBEP for nearly ten years to manage the lending side of the Monterey Bay Housing Trust: identifying projects, sourcing and making the loans, and revolving repaid loans back out to fund more projects.
We began with $1.5 million a decade ago. Since then, the Monterey Bay Housing Trust has put more than $55 million to work in collaboration with Housing Trust Silicon Valley and supported projects across Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Benito counties. These investments have helped finance approximately 1,200 workforce homes, more than 4,000 farmworker housing beds, and over 3,000 affordable and market-rate homes.
These numbers represent real community members: nurses who can live near the hospitals where they work; teachers who can remain in the communities they serve; agricultural workers who have access to safe and dignified housing; and young families who can build their futures without facing impossible commutes.
The economic benefits are real too. Housing construction creates jobs and generates local spending. Stable housing reduces employee turnover and strengthens workforce retention. Employers become more competitive when workers can afford to live nearby. Communities benefit from reduced traffic, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and stronger neighborhood stability.
The Monterey Bay Housing Trust has also demonstrated the power of regional collaboration. By pooling resources and aligning partners around shared goals, our region has created a financing model that has attracted additional investment and inspired similar efforts elsewhere in California, including Sonoma County.
For HT, the Monterey Bay region was also an important step in extending the work into new areas of California. Alongside the Monterey Bay Housing Trust, HT brought its own lending capital to the region, putting additional financial resources directly to work here. The model built with MBEP gave HT a blueprint for how to show up as a real partner in new geographies.
HT’s role goes beyond lending. They’ve supported local ballot measures to increase housing funding, shared our expertise through affordable housing finance trainings, advocated for policies that spur more affordable housing, and kept our lending team actively engaged in the region. The partnership HT built with MBEP shows what it takes to actually move projects forward and deliver affordable housing in communities in need.
That same regional, collaborative approach also drives MBEP’s work in broadband expansion, workforce development, advanced manufacturing, and emerging technologies such as advanced air mobility. But housing remains central to everything else MBEP hopes to achieve.
A region cannot grow its healthcare workforce, support educators, or attract innovative businesses if the people who power those sectors cannot afford to live here.
The good news is that the Monterey Bay Housing Trust offers a roadmap for how to address the shortage of affordable housing in our region. The initiative proved that when civic leaders, employers, financial institutions, and community organizations come together, we can create practical solutions that generate lasting impact in our communities.
As California continues to confront a statewide housing shortage, the Monterey Bay region offers a model for how economic development organizations can move beyond advocacy and build real tools to finance housing production.
The lesson is simple: when we treat housing as economic infrastructure and invest accordingly, we strengthen our workforce, improve quality of life, and build a more resilient and inclusive economy.
To learn more or to give to the Monterey Bay Housing Trust to build more homes, please visit mbep.biz and stay tuned for an upcoming briefing.
About Monterey Bay Economic Partnership (MBEP):Monterey Bay Economic Partnership (MBEP) is a regional member-supported nonprofit organization consisting of public, private, and civic entities located throughout the counties of Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz. Founded in 2015, our mission is to improve the economic health and quality of life in the region.
About Housing Trust Silicon Valley: Housing Trust Silicon Valley is a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) using transformative housing finance and public and private partnerships to create more equitable and affordable communities. Since 2000, Housing Trust has invested $690 million in affordable housing and created 28,700 housing opportunities serving 53,800 people, leveraging $9 billion in capital with partners across the region.
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