Jordan Court
Jordan Court is an apartment complex for seniors with limited incomes in Berkeley, California, that was built by a partnership between Satellite Affordable Housing Associates (SAHA) and All Souls Episcopal Parish (ASEP). Opened in May of 2022, Jordan Court has 34 studio apartments, a courtyard with garden beds, community room, conference room, and community kitchen. Jordan Court also has office space for ASEP and two 3BR/2BA apartments for All Souls’ use. Jordan Court is the first affordable housing facility built in the northern part of Berkeley in 30 years.
FAQs
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In 2010, All Souls purchased a dilapidated apartment building on the lot adjacent to the church. While the building provided housing for an intentional Christian community for a period, it really needed to be rebuilt. In 2015, All Souls began a long period of communal discernment – within the congregation, with local elected officials, with other community partners – and ultimately faced a choice of what to do with the property: 1) build market-rate housing with space use and income for the parish; 2) build a smaller building for parish use; or 3) build affordable housing with space use for the parish. The housing crisis that has since engulfed the San Francisco Bay area was becoming more visible by 2017, and at the end of the discernment period it was clear to the parish that we were called to live into our Christian values and take a faithful risk. The church decided to build affordable housing for seniors.
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Jordan Court took just over 7 years from the beginning of the discernment period in 2015 to the grand opening in 2022.
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Satellite Affordable Housing Associates (SAHA) – a nonprofit housing developer based in Berkeley; several Berkeley City Council members and the Mayor of Berkeley; the Bishop, Chancellor, and Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of California; and numerous city, county, and federal government agencies.
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$24.5 M
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Our development partner – SAHA – received a pre-development grant from the City of Berkeley that helped them identify other sources of project funding including 4% low-income housing tax credits, funds from a County Housing Bond, and other public funding from city, county and state sources.
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All Souls owns the land and leases it to the Jordan Court partnership for $1/year. In turn, we pay the partnership $1/year to lease the office and apartment spaces. In addition to the upgrades for our own spaces, All Souls paid roughly $2000 for an appraisal of our land.
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SAHA’s property management team manages all aspects of the property. They have a part-time property manager who lives on site and a part-time resident services coordinator who offers support and programming for residents.
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Building the consensus to make such a major, generation-defining decision as a church is exciting, sobering and time consuming. In addition, the project encountered many of the structural barriers that prevent the development of new housing – especially affordable housing – in California. These include zoning laws which make it difficult to build dense housing that is more than a couple of stories, construction and regulatory costs which make projects expensive and hard to finance, and a small but vocal minority of NIMBY neighbors.
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Believe in it deeply and hold it lightly.
Know what your non-negotiables are as early as possible.Reach out for help before you need it.
Find people who are experts at this. They are out there!
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Below you will find several local and national news articles. If there is more we can share, please reach out to us, and we would be happy to connect with you.
Jordan Court in the News
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“There’s a palpable change, both in state law, local governments and, most importantly, in the neighborhoods, in the citizenry of the city. But it will only change with persistence and cooperation.”
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"In the end, it was the growing pressures from the lack of housing that every person can afford. We were feeling this on the one hand, and we were reading the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth on the other, and that led us to this day."
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“For us, as a Christian congregation, we have a deeply held belief that we are in this together”
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“It’s very exhausting,” Vega said of her several moves. “When you’re my age, you just want a little corner of a room to [yourself]. Now, 'it’s like heaven.' Vega is able to live near her daughter and grandkids, who rent a home in North Berkeley, and cook for them multiple times a week. She’s also met and made friends with people in the community."
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“Californians need fewer messes like the one at First and Lorena, and more projects like Jordan Court, a 34-unit North Berkeley development that will house low-income seniors. It’s the neighborhood’s first affordable-housing development in nearly 30 years."
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“We wanted to be part of strengthening the community in a different way and one that was going to provide space for people who are most vulnerable.”
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"More and more places of worship want to be like Jordan Court — a part of the solution — by creating housing for low-income families or supportive housing for people experiencing homelessness."
