City staff presented a competitive notice‑of‑funding‑availability (NOFA) process and recommended preliminary conditional awards to a set of affordable housing projects; after public comment and developer responses, the Salinas City Council approved the staff recommendations Nov. 18.

Orlando Reyes, assistant director of community development, said the NOFA received five applications requesting more than twice the available funds. Staff recommended funding for three projects judged closest to shovel‑readiness and able to meet expenditure timeliness: Vista De La Terraza (rehab; CHISPA) with recommended funding that includes HOME and an additional CDBG match to complete a full modernization; Casentini Street Family Apartments (Milestone Housing/Housing Development Corp.) for construction; and St. George (CHISPA) for senior housing. Staff also recommended deploying local housing trust fund (LHTF) dollars to stabilize the Republic Cafe site, a city‑owned parcel in the Chinatown master plan area suffering fire damage.

Developers and partners — including CHISPA representatives — described project needs and timelines, noting Vista De La Terraza’s physical needs assessment showed additional rehab needs beyond its initial request. Councilmembers challenged staff on readiness criteria and whether the city should prioritize unit counts versus project readiness. Staff and the city manager explained readiness, entitlement status and prior allocations factored into the recommendations.

Council approved the conditional awards by recorded vote. The awards are conditional and subject to subsequent funding agreements, entitlements, CEQA/NEPA where applicable and continued outreach.