The Marin County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a bond resolution to help fund the renovation of the historic Golden Gate Village in Marin City, something residents have requested for years.  

The total multi-year renovation, which will be done in three phases, will cost $266.6 million. 

The county will sell $50 million in tax exempt bonds to help finance the $85 million renovation of the first group of buildings.  

Unincorporated Marin City is located just north of Sausalito and is home to much of the county’s required affordable housing units. A community of about 300 mostly Black families live on the Golden Gate Village complex of 29 buildings. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright protege Aaron Green, the apartments were created to house workers after World War II. It is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The aging buildings are worn and need upgrades. 

Residents will be temporarily relocated within the village for a period of three or four months while their buildings get complete makeovers. 

“No residents in good standing will be displaced,” said Daniel Eilerman at Tuesday’s meeting, assistant county executive of Marin County.  

Mike Andrews, a consultant working with the Marin Housing Authority, which has owned and operated the 30-acre village since its creation in 1961, assured residents that the upgrades will be thorough. 

“The renovation will touch every surface inside and out, with new floors, new fixtures and new appliances,” he said. 

One of the Golden Gate Village public housing buildings in Marin City, Calif., on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. The low-income housing development is owned and operated by the Marin Housing Authority and is protected by the National Historic Preservation Act. A complete renovation is set to begin in early 2026 preserving it as public housing for existing residents. (George Alfaro/Bay City News)

Anthony Stubbs with the California Municipal Finance Authority told supervisors that no building would be demolished and that the renovations will “preserve the African American Heritage of the area.” 

The renovation will be done in three phases, and each phase must be separately financed. Phase 1 is expected to begin in February 2026. It will focus on the first 88 units of the property’s 296-unit mid-century low-rise apartments. The buildings will get upgraded kitchens and bathrooms, enhanced safety features, energy-efficiency improvements and refreshed outdoor spaces. Phase 2 is planned for 2027, and the final phase could begin around 2029. 

Phase 1 of the renovation will cost $85 million. The county’s $50 million bonds will cover a permanent loan and other project costs. In August, the nonprofit developer Burbank Housing, which is collaborating on the project with the Marin Housing Authority, announced that it had received approval from the state to sell a 10-year federal tax credit worth $3.9 million. The developer will sell the tax credit to investors for $34 million.  

Ruth Dusseault is an investigative reporter and multimedia journalist focused on environment and energy. Her position is supported by the California local news fellowship, a statewide initiative spearheaded by UC Berkeley aimed at supporting local news platforms. While a student at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism (c’23), Ruth developed stories about the social and environmental circumstances of contaminated watersheds around the Great Lakes, Mississippi River and Florida’s Lake Okeechobee. Her thesis explored rights of nature laws in small rural communities. She is a former assistant professor and artist in residence at Georgia Tech’s School of Architecture, and uses photography, film and digital storytelling to report on the engineered systems that undergird modern life.