A $16 million housing trust, funded mostly by a grant from The Walt Disney Co., received Anaheim City Council approval last week with plans for hundreds of new affordable units and financial assistance for renters and homebuyers.
On Thursday the council approved guidelines and a spending plan for the Anaheim Local Housing Trust Fund created in August.
The fund’s seed money is $15 million received last week from Disney and $1 million from existing federal funding, according to a city statement.
The spending plan allocates $9.5 million to partially finance future affordable communities, $5 million for first-time homebuyer assistance and $1 million to help tenants facing eviction.
The remaining $500,000 is for the Anaheim Housing Authority’s administrative costs. The city agency administers grant funding for housing from federal, state and other sources.
Officials said the $9.5 million for affordable housing would be spread among several communities, not one project, to help add about 250 to 300 affordable apartments.
“Anaheim has several affordable projects in planning or early construction along Beach Boulevard that are likely first candidates for funding,” according to the statement.
Affordable housing projects can upwards of $40 million, with nonprofit developers often struggling to get full financing, officials said.
The city typically contributes $7 million to $15 million to develop affordable housing, “including land, cash and financing,” according to the statement. Miraflores Apartments, an 86-unit affordable housing complex near Anaheim City Hall, opened in December and cost $45 million to build. The city contributed $13 million in land and funding to that total.
Currently Anaheim has nearly 40 affordable communities with over 4,000 apartments, the city reported.
Help for tenants facing eviction and first-time homebuyers
The housing trust is also set to fund a citywide homebuyer assistance program, providing $50,000 loans for down payments to first-time homebuyers whose annual incomes are $200,000 or less, officials said.
The down payment loan requires no repayment until a house is sold, refinanced or paid off and aims to ease the burden of monthly mortgage payments for first-time buyers, according to the city.
Another $1 million from the new housing trust is for rent assistance to an estimated 200 households at risk of eviction. Grants up to $5,000 provide emergency assistance to tenants facing a pending eviction who make half or less than the area’s median income of $136,600 for a family of four, officials said. Other requirements include residing or working in Anaheim for a minimum of one year and being able to make rent payments beyond the emergency assistance grant.
DisneylandForward
Disney’s share of the affordable housing trust is part of a development agreement with the city, known as DisneylandForward. The council approved zoning and planning changes in 2024 to allow theme park attractions, entertainment, shopping and dining on land owned or managed by Disneyland next to the existing theme parks over the next decades.
Expansion, mostly on surface parking lots, is set to generate new visitor revenue that Anaheim will use to serve our community with public safety, libraries, community centers and more.
The development agreement for DisneylandForward also calls for dedicated Disney payments for affordable housing and parks.
In all, Disney is paying $30 million for affordable housing today and in five years.
Disney’s next payment is due in 2030, according to the development agreement, which also calls for $8 million in funding for parks the city received in May. Officials are planning exactly how to spend the parks funding.
More about affordable housing in Anaheim is at Anaheim.net/affordable.
