Celebrating the Groundbreaking of The Kelsey Ayer Station

July 18, 2022

Pictured left to right: Dave Hopkins (Chief Operating Officer, Sares Regis Residential), Caroline Bas, (Chief Operating Officer, The Kelsey), Ana Maria Avila Farias (CalHFA Board Member), Raul Peralez (District 3 City of San Jose Councilmember), Sam Liccardo (Mayor of the City of San Jose), David Cohen (City of San Jose Councilmember), Kermit Mawakana (City of San Jose Housing Department Division Manager), Micaela Connery (The Kelsey CEO and Co-Founder), Heather Hood, (Enterprise Vice-President and Market Leader For Northern California), and Adelene Ramos (Housing Trust Silicon Valley, Communications Manager) — Pictured left to right: Dave Hopkins, (Chief Operating Officer, Residential Development, Sares Regis Group of Northern California), Caroline Bas, (Chief Operating Officer, The Kelsey), Ana Maria Avila Farias (CalHFA Board Member), Raul Peralez (District 3 City of San Jose Councilmember), Sam Liccardo (Mayor of the City of San Jose), David Cohen (City of San Jose Councilmember), Kermit Mawakana (City of San Jose Housing Department Division Manager), Micaela Connery (The Kelsey CEO and Co-Founder), Heather Hood, (Enterprise Vice-President and Market Leader For Northern California), and Adelene Ramos (Housing Trust Silicon Valley, Communications Manager)

On June 30 we celebrated the groundbreaking of The Kelsey Ayer Station. The Kelsey Ayer Station will bring 115 affordable, accessible, and inclusive homes for people with and without disabilities to the San Jose community. The groundbreaking marks a major milestone in The Kelsey’s ongoing mission of pioneering disability-forward housing solutions that open doors to homes and opportunities for everyone. Watch a video recap here.

“It is so rare to find new construction that serves both extremely low-income residents and people with disabilities while providing innovative services and amenities. “

-Kermit Mawakana, Division Manager for the Residential Development Division of the City of San Jose Housing Department

Pictured left to right: Micaela Connery standing next to members of The Kelsey Community Advisory Group Kathryn Hedges and Patience Bixby who are holding shovels and wearing white construction hats with The Kelsey logo on them, and Darcy Mccann also holds a shovel and is sitting in a wheelchair.

The event was a milestone celebrated with our community, including the Community Advisory Group and neighbors from the Vendome and Japantown neighborhood. This project has been shaped by those with lived experience around disability-forward housing and the local community. Both Mayor Sam Liccardo and Conculmember Peralez, who have been partners since the project’s earliest stages, spoke to the strength of the community engagement throughout our development process. We were proud to mark this moment with those who have made this community possible.

The Kelsey Ayer Station is a $75M project that includes funding from local, state, and federal public funds, private lending, and philanthropic gifts. The community received the first loan from Google’s affordable housing fund for predevelopment. Permanent funding partners include the City of San Jose, California Department of Housing and Community Development Transit Oriented Development Program, US Department of Housing & Urban Development, Capital One, Enterprise Community Partners, California Housing Finance Agency, Housing Trust Silicon Valley, the Weinberg Foundation, and individual supporters. Many of the funding partners joined us at the groundbreaking as speakers and to offer their support.

Pictured left to right: The Kelsey Co-founder and CEO Micaela Connery along with The Kelsey staff members Caroline Bas, Molly Wiesman, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo and The Kelsey staff members Allie Cannington who is sitting in a wheelchair, Isaac Haney-Owens, and Fatimah Aure

*Councilmember Raul Peralez speaks in front of a group of people, some of whom are sitting in chairs or wheelchairs and some who are standing.*

The Kelsey staff members Ari Katz and Fatimah Aure sit behind a table with water bottles and stand-up signs on it. Against the table in front in an upright position are shovels with The Kelsey logo on then and labels on the wooden handles that read “Home for More.”

Upon completion, The Kelsey Ayer Station will feature shared community amenities and outdoor space with disability-forward design features to support diverse accessibility as well as on-site Inclusion Concierges™ to connect residents to each other, the community, and desired services and supports.

“The Kelsey is a new and creative model that needs to be everywhere, and today marks a historic milestone in not just what is possible here but what can be possible across the country.“

Darcy McCann, The Kelsey’s Community Advisory Group

The groundbreaking of The Kelsey Ayer Station and the community it will become is the beginning of a journey to meet such needs both in the Bay Area but also nationwide.