Affordable housing building near Redwood City to be rebuilt after fire

Funding for the $155 million development includes county loans, state grants and federal COVID relief funds. It is built on 3.2 acres of land that the county purchased about 10 years ago to build housing, officials said.

In addition to piecing together a patchwork of funding sources, Hodges said finding land for affordable housing is a huge challenge in expensive San Mateo County. The North Fair Oaks location was a good fit because of its proximity to a county health clinic and community center, he said, adding, “It's a community that has seen quite a bit of displacement and pressure on prices.

Apartments under construction in Middlefield Junction would be reserved for people earning incomes considered extremely low, very low and low on the expensive San Francisco Peninsula. Twenty of the apartments would be reserved for people experiencing homelessness and receiving care management and support services from San Mateo County Health.

Since 2012, San Mateo County has helped finance or support 4,752 affordable housing units in 65 projects. There are 2,874 completed units, with 1,237 in the planning stage and 641, including Middlefield Junction's 179, under construction.

“For this to happen and for such a large part of the pipeline to be delayed, it's pretty devastating,” Hodges said. “There will definitely be insurance claims to try to recover money so we can restart the project. But I don't think it's anyone's guess how long it will take at this point.

KQED South Bay digital editor Joseph Geha contributed to this report.