The Sobrato Organization Advances Housing Security in Silicon Valley

The Sobrato Organization’s mission is to build a more equitable and sustainable world through business and philanthropic leadership. 

In Silicon Valley, two issues drive inequity more than any others: housing insecurity and economic mobility. That’s the catalyst for The Sobrato Organization’s (TSO) Housing Security Initiative (HSI)—a bold, cross-company effort to ensure that low-wage, housing-insecure residents and families not only have a stable place to call home, but also the opportunity to thrive.

Our Vision

TSO envisions a Silicon Valley where low-wage, housing-insecure families can remain in their communities, achieve economic success, and shape their own futures. Where every person has the dignity of a safe, stable home.

“Our goal isn’t to mitigate housing insecurity—it’s to solve it.” Adam Briones, Director of Housing Security Initiative

Why Housing Matters

Housing insecurity is one of the greatest challenges facing Silicon Valley:

• The region lacks 118,000+ housing units affordable to people making below 120% of the Area Median Income.
• 173,000 households in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties are rent burdened.
• Families with young children are especially vulnerable—18,100 households with kids under age six spend more than they can afford just to stay housed.
• Nearly 370,000 San Jose residents live in neighborhoods already at risk of displacement.

The impact ripples beyond housing. More than 1.1 million residents in Santa Clara, San Mateo, and Alameda Counties earn less than a living wage. Nearly half of children in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties live in households without enough income to cover basic needs.

Stable housing is the necessary condition for economic mobility and community belonging. When families are forced to leave, they lose not only their homes but their communities, schools, and support systems. And when they move further from jobs, it worsens climate impacts from commuting.

Our Approach: Production. Preservation. Policy.

HSI leverages the unique power of TSO by bringing together its Sobrato Real Estate, Capital, and Philanthropies groups to take a holistic approach for greater impact and alignment to our core values. This integrated model allows us to address housing insecurity from  multiple angles at once:

1. Production – Through public-private partnerships such as the Bay Area Housing Innovation Fund that are designed to deliver high-quality homes faster and for less, TSO is helping build new affordable housing in Alameda, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties, where affordable options lag far behind demand. Unique collaborations among partners such as the San Francisco Housing Accelerator Fund, Sobrato Philanthropies, Destination: Home, and Apple not only speed up the creation of affordable homes in the greater Bay Area but also directly support thriving communities by helping essential workers such as nurses, teachers, first responders, and others stay in their communities.
2. Preservation – Acquiring, rehabilitating, and operating existing naturally occurring affordable housing (NOAH) at risk of market rate redevelopment. We’re preserving housing complexes that may have been neglected over the past few decades, and turning those into dignified homes where families can stay connected to their neighborhoods, schools, and resources. Without this work, many would have been forced out of the area entirely. For more specific detail on improvements made at Gading Townhomes, please see our Gading Townhomes Employee Volunteer Day video.
3. Pro-Housing Policy – Tackling the root problem: California’s undersupply of housing. With 75% of land zoned for expensive single-family homes, we need policies that allow denser, more attainable housing for working families. We’re working with partners to advance solutions that can scale, improve, and shift California’s housing system.

Partnerships for Impact

HSI isn’t just about what TSO can do alone. We’re bringing in partners—such as Apple and the Bay Area Housing Innovation Fund—to scale our reach and inspire others to act. We believe lasting change requires the public and private sectors working together, aligning resources, and building shared solutions.

What’s Next

In the next 12-18 months, we expect to:

• Bring additional properties into our NOAH program
• Finance new affordable housing properties
• Support organizations working to increase housing supply for working families in the region and throughout the state