MILPTIAS — Angelique Chisom spent years living out of her car, searching for an affordable place in the Bay Area to call home. Discouraged with her options, she reached out to local housing services for help.
With thousands of people in need of housing in Santa Clara County, she didn’t expect to find a place for herself. But luckily, she was wrong.
Chisom recently moved into one of 102 new housing units now installed at Sango Court in Milpitas, which is located about a mile from the Great Mall. Resources for Community Development (RCD), a Berkeley-based housing development organization, revitalized the once industrial site into an affordable space for families and individuals at a time when Bay Area rental prices are skyrocketing.
During the grand opening of the courts Wednesday, Chisom thanked those who gave her a chance at being housed again. “I’m blessed,” she said, standing in the apartment’s courtyard, which was filled with local leaders, affordable housing supporters and other Sango Court tenants.
The development includes a mix of studios, and one, two and three-bedroom apartments with 51 units dedicated to those transitioning out of homelessness. Tenants began settling down in October 2023 and the apartments are almost all filled, according to Nicole Brown, senior project manager for RCD.
“We’re proud to support these households residing in the County of Santa Clara where there are a lot of job opportunities but steeply rising housing costs,” Brown said in a statement.
The all-electric five story building also incorporates green construction methods and technologies, including rooftop solar panels, energy efficient appliances and materials, and drought-tolerant landscaping.
RCD has similar developments in several major cities, including Berkeley and Oakland. The organization is slated to build dozens of more affordable apartment units in Emeryville, Ashland and Fremont in 2025.
The slew of developments come as Milpitas and Berkeley, like dozens of other East and South Bay cities, are forging ahead with their Housing Element — a housing blueprint submitted every eight years to the state that outlines how cities will add a specific number of homes at a range of price points. Milpitas must build 6,713 new housing units by 2031.
The nine-county Bay Area is expected to add more than 441,000 new homes by 2031 to meet housing demands, a 15% increase in the region’s total housing stock. The counties must also allocate about 40% of those homes for families with low or very-low incomes.
Sango Court now serves more than 190 people, including low-income families, seniors and veterans. A one bedroom apartment in Milpitas typically costs $2,725, but at Sango, the price ranges between $502 to $2,008.
Milpitas Mayor Carmen Montano said she appreciates how on-site supportive services are available for their tenants.
“That is so important, sometimes folks need that support,” Montano said Wednesday. “They need someone to help them and guide them to really make a difference.”
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