Sonoma’s affordable housing project drops controversial name ‘Altamira’

Developer backs away from link to mission founder Jose Altamira; 48-unit low-income housing complex now called ‘Alta Madrone.’|

The 2-acre low-income housing project at the south end of Broadway is nearing completion, with occupancy expected this summer. But now, after a four-year development path, the name has been changed: the working moniker for the development, “Altamira Apartments,” has been dropped in favor of the less controversial “Alta Madrone.“

“We heard concern from the community that the original project name was too similar to both Father Altamira and to the (Altimira) middle school,” said Adam Kuperman, of the Berkeley-based low-income housing developer Satellite Affordable Housing Associates, or SAHA. “It was never our intention to celebrate this historical figure or to cause confusion.” Both Altamira and Altimira are alternate spellings of the Franciscan priest who founded the Mission San Francisco Sonoma in 1823.

Father Jose Altamira’s reputation is very clouded. “He stood out as being odious in a time when whipping (of Native Americans) was not unusual,” said local historian and actor George Webber. “His maltreatment of the Native Americans was so extreme that they revolted in 1826, burning down some of the buildings and forcing Altamira to flee for his life.”

Kuperman said the new name “celebrates a local, native tree ― the madrone, that the indigenous people traditionally used as a source of nourishment and medicine.”

Along with the name change, the project at 20269 Broadway is now using the alternate address of 1269 Broadway, which is actually more in sync with neighbors such as the Lodge at Sonoma, at 1325 Broadway just across Clay Street. The address change was approved by the City of Sonoma, which uses the four-digit format. The five-digit address is the county preference but once the project was approved, the Planning Department assigned the new address, said Associate Planner Wendy Atkins.

SAHA designed and built the project, which received approval from the city early in 2018 and has been under construction since late 2019.

Alta Madrone will offer 48 rental units of 100 percent affordable housing for families from Sonoma County. The site has eight residential buildings with one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments as well as a single community building with common room, offices, covered bicycle storage and laundry facilities.

According to the SAHA website at sahahomes.org, “Extra attention has been paid to the landscaping of this site, with open space central to the property, children’s playground, bay-friendly landscaping and mature trees and shrubs to enhance privacy and overall comfort for the existing neighbors and new residents.”

The Sonoma County Housing Authority has already gone through its application period, which ended Dec. 16, 2020. “We received 1,443 total applications,” Kuperman told the Index-Tribune.

Of the 48 total available residences, 11 rental units will be set aside for formerly homeless families and filled in coordination with the Sonoma County Housing Authority ; another 10 rental units will be filled in coordination with the housing authority for Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) units.

Applicants who made the SAHA waitlist will be contacted in the next one to two weeks. Housing Authority waitlists are not yet finalized and applicants will be notified in the near future for those individual programs.

The apartments are expected to begin accepting tenants in May. A total of 106 residents are expected.

Email Christian at christian.kallen@sonomanews.com.

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