People’s Self-Help Housing accepting applications for Soon to be Built 
      49 homes at the former Hi-Way Drive-In on Santa Maria Way 
          

          Since the January 6, 2022, final showing of “Spider-Man: No Way Home”, the Hi-Way Drive-in Theater lot on Santa Maria Way has been vacant. The giant screen has been re-located to a drive-in theatre in Barstow.
          Since 1970, People’s Self-Help Housing has built thousands of homes and rental units for lower income families on the Central Coast, and it hopes to begin construction of 49 three and four bedroom homes on the nine-acre Hi-Way Drive In site later this year.
          Ken Trigueiro is the CEO of the non-profit company whose office is in San Luis Obispo. “Eventually our goal is to have about 30 percent of homes sold to farm workers and those in the agriculture industry with the rest mostly for low to moderate income families,” he explains.
          “We will get building permits as soon as we get financing in place,” he says. According to Trigueiro, Peoples Self Help Housing is waiting for an allocation of “New Markets Tax Credits,” a recent federal program
where the developer receives tax credits for development and then exchanges it for private equity. “We are anticipating finalization by late summer,” he explains.
          People’s Self-Help Housing is accepting applications to assist people to become qualified. The website is pshhc.org.  After processing, successful applicants will be selected in a random lottery system.
The income amount for low-income families is determined by the area median income index in Santa Barbara County. For low-income households, total household income must be below 80 percent of the median income. About 35 percent of the household income will go towards the mortgage.
          Trigueiro says nine of the homes will be set aside for moderate income households, those whose income is between 80 percent and 100 percent of the County’s area median income.
According to the State Department of Housing and Community Development, the 2025 Santa Barbara County median household income for a family of four is $119,100. 
          To receive financial assistance for the down payment, some home owners will put in 500 hours of “sweat equity” helping to build their home. Families work with supervisor contractors for training and guidance. 
The homes will include all-electric utilities and be equipped with photovoltaic solar panels. The price of the homes will be market driven. Trigueiro says a few years ago, at the outset of the project, Peoples Self-Help Housing was hoping the price would be about $500,000. “But home prices are up because of tariffs, escalating fuel costs, and interest rates, so the cost of construction materials is a concern.”                                                Steve Southwick reporting