120 E COTATI AVENUE
COTATI, CA
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
JANUARY 27, 2026
• City Council Meeting June 25, 2024
Approved developer selection
• Community Engagement Meeting #1 September 18, 2024
Design preference survey
• Community Engagement Meeting #2 November 20, 2024
Initial design concepts
• City Council Meeting December 10, 2024
Further development of Mission-style design
• Planning Commission Meeting August 18, 2025
Discussion of Conditions of Approval
• City Council Meeting August 26, 2025
Discussion of Transportation Impact Study
COMMUNITY MEETINGS / PUBLIC HEARINGS
CHANGES MADE GIVEN FEEDBACK
• Mission-style design• Building steps down from 3 stories to 2 stories at adjacent neighbors• More vibrant color scheme• Streetscape improvements and traffic calming measures for pedestrian safety• Limit exit from project onto E Cotati Avenue to right-turn only• Freebird to coordinate with City to lease commercial space to community serving uses and provide City with right of first refusal on commercial leases • Project subject to State prevailing wage laws and Freebird to pay City’s costs for a third-party labor compliance monitor
AFFORDABLE HOUSING FINANCING
In Sonoma County and across the Bay Area, rental revenues generated by affordable housing projects are insufficient to support the level of permanent debt needed to cover total development costs. Exceptionally high and escalating land, labor, and construction costs have widened the gap between achievable rents and project financing needs, resulting in a growing reliance on public subsidy to make projects financially feasible. 2025 SONOMA COUNTY AFFORDABLE HOUSING RENTS
Number of Bedrooms
Studio One Two Three
30% AMI $792 $849 $1,019 $1,177
50% AMI $1,321 $1,415 $1,698 $1,963
60% AMI $1,585 $1,698 $2,038 $2,355
WHY IS LOCAL SUBSIDY NEEDED?
• 2024 Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) Study:
• Based on projects awarded 4% low-income housing tax credit in 2021-2023• Average Total Development Cost (TDC) for affordable housing development in nine-county Bay Area is $817,000 per unit
• Average TDC for Sonoma County is $634,000 per unit• Public subsidies cover approximately 35% of TDC including local (20%) and state (15%) subsidies
• Average total public subsidy need in Sonoma County is $222,000 per unit including $126,800 per unit local contribution and $95,200 per unit state contribution
• DDA includes estimated $54,345 per unit in local contribution through discounted land and impact fee waivers
WHY IS LOCAL SUBSIDY NEEDED?
• Project-specific financing challenges:
• Site not located within a HUD-designated Qualified Census Tract, HUD-designated Difficult Development Area, or a State-designated High Resource Area—designations that typically increase competitiveness for state funding and enhance equity pricing for LowIncome Housing Tax Credits • Significant amount of public improvements with widening of sidewalk along E Cotati Avenue, new sidewalk along Charles Street, modifications to E Cotati Avenue median, and undergrounding of utilities • Commercial space along E Cotati Avenue and La Plaza frontages• Cotati has high impact fees• State prevailing wages • City does not have direct financial subsidy for this project so local subsidy in form of discounted land and impact fee waivers are included in DDA WHY IMPACT FEE WAIVERS AND DISCOUNTED LAND?
• Impact Fees:
• Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley research indicates impact fees average $15,000 - $20,000 per unit for multifamily housing in California. • The estimated $1,566,170 in waived impact fees for the project equals $35,595 per unit and does not include water and sewer fees, which will not be waived • Discounted Land:
• City paid $1,650,000 for the Site; Freebird requested full land donation• DDA includes $825,000 purchase price as a middle ground • Given the high-cost environment, the absence of direct City financial assistance, and the project’s limited eligibility for enhanced state and tax credit funding, these measures are necessary to help close the project’s financing gap and enable delivery of much-needed affordable housing in Cotati.
STATE FUNDING
• Freebird has been very successful in securing competitive State and County capital funding for its last four projects. Sources include:• CalHFA Mixed Income Program - $2,655,674• HCD Multifamily Housing Program - $15,578,176• HCD Housing for Healthy California - $4,265,288• HCD Infill Infrastructure Grant Program - $3,138,600• HCD Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program - $21,111,191• HCD Disaster Recovery Program - $13,448,206• RED Housing Fund - $4,000,000• Sonoma County CDC - $1,940,417
PREVAILING WAGES
• The Founder/Manager of Freebird has led the development of 10 affordable/mixed-income housing projects in California. Six of them have been prevailing wage projects. Six of them have been built by union general contractors. • DDA requirement for project to be subject to State prevailing wage requirements and for Freebird to pay City’s costs for third-party labor compliance monitor. Any labor requirements beyond those required by State prevailing wage requirements would likely reduce the general contractor and subcontractor pool, make it harder for smaller firms to compete for construction contracts, and increase costs on the project. • Freebird hires labor compliance monitor for prevailing wage projects and requires general contractor to hire separate labor compliance monitor and will do the same on this project.
PREVAILING WAGES
• Freebird bids projects to both union and non-union general contractors and will do the same on this project. • Carpenters Union has provided list of 10 union general contractors; Freebird will send bid documents to that list in addition to 3 other union general contractors it has established relationships with and non-union general contractors. • Freebird requires selected non-union general contractors to bid projects to union subcontractors and will do the same on this project. • If a non-union general contractor is selected, Freebird will ensure they bid projects to a list of union subcontractors if provided by the Carpenters Union (they have been unwilling to provide a list for Freebird’s last two projects when requested).
QUESTIONS?