58-Unit Affordable Housing Project Going Up On Dry Creek Road

HEALSDBURG, CA — Construction crews have started work on on a housing project that first began more than two decades ago.

The wood and rebar increasingly filling the empty site near d opposite Hotel Trio Healdsburg will become a 58-unit affordable housing development.

City officials, housing advocates, and project partners have spent years working to bring to life the site near Big John's Market, at 155 Dry Creek Road.

The project transforms the 3.53-acre city-owned property into a four-story apartment complex affordable to families, farmworkers, and individuals facing homelessness.

Supporters say the development represents one of the largest affordable housing projects currently under construction in Healdsburg and a significant step toward easing the city's housing shortage.

The site has been earmarked for affordable housing since 2003, when the former Healdsburg Redevelopment Agency acquired the property.

Momentum accelerated in 2021 when the City of Healdsburg selected Santa Rosa-based Burbank Housing as the development partner and entered into an exclusive negotiating agreement to advance the project.

Public discussions began in earnest in 2022, when the Healdsburg Planning Commission reviewed conceptual plans and gathered community feedback. Commissioners examined building massing, traffic circulation, environmental protections, parking, and the project's relationship to nearby Foss Creek.

The development later secured major design review approval and a series of state density bonus concessions that allowed the project to move forward.

Dry Creek Commons will include 28 one-bedroom apartments, 15 two-bedroom units, and 15 three-bedroom units. Several apartments will serve farmworker families, while others will provide permanent supportive housing through a partnership with Reach for Home. The target households earn less than 60% of the area’s median income, according to a Burbank announcement in 2025.

Project leaders assembled financing from a complex mix of local, state, and federal sources. Funding includes nearly $9.7 million through California's Joe Serna Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant Program, along with state affordable housing programs, federal housing funds, tax-credit financing, and local contributions from the City of Healdsburg and Sonoma County.

In August 2025, the Healdsburg City Council approved a $1 million Measure S loan to help close remaining financing gaps and keep the project on track for construction.

Van Meter Williams Pollack LLP designed the development, which also includes wetland restoration, stormwater improvements, habitat enhancements along Foss Creek, and new site infrastructure.

Public discussions have so far focused primarily on building height, parking, traffic, environmental impacts, and design compatibility with the Dry Creek Road corridor.

Construction began following a groundbreaking ceremony in late 2025. Project partners expect work to continue through 2026, with residents projected to begin moving into the new apartments in spring 2027.

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