Alta Housing has started construction on La Bella, a new affordable multifamily community planned for 108 units in Mountain View. The development is rising on a 1.04-acre parcel at 1020 Terra Bella Ave. in the city’s Terra Bella neighborhood, an area identified as a former industrial zone that is now shifting toward higher-density residential use.
La Bella represents Alta Housing’s fourth affordable housing community in Mountain View, underscoring the organization’s ongoing role in delivering income-restricted units in the local market. The project adds another dedicated affordable asset in a city where residential demand has driven a broader transition from industrial to residential land use in select pockets.
The development was enabled by a land exchange between Alta Housing and a neighboring Public Storage facility. Through this transaction, the two parties reconfigured their respective holdings to create sites that could be more effectively redeveloped, with Alta Housing securing a layout that allows for a larger number of residential units at La Bella.
According to Alta Housing, the organization has held the La Bella parcel for nearly a decade. The willingness of Public Storage to participate in a land swap was cited as a key factor in unlocking additional housing capacity on the site, demonstrating how coordinated property reconfiguration can support higher-density residential outcomes in formerly industrial areas.
Alta Housing COO Sheryl Klein described the land exchange as an example of collaboration among public, private and nonprofit stakeholders focused on addressing regional housing needs. She noted that the adjusted site plan made it possible to deliver substantially more homes at La Bella than would otherwise have been feasible, and framed the project as intended to support the long-term well-being of Mountain View residents.
With ground now broken, La Bella moves from planning into active development, adding another dedicated affordable housing property to Alta Housing’s local portfolio. The project also illustrates how mission-driven developers are using creative land strategies, such as exchanges with adjacent property owners, to assemble sites that can accommodate higher-density affordable housing in built-out urban neighborhoods experiencing land use transitions.
