EDC as Guinea Pigs?
El Dorado County apartment proposal would test applicability of new California law
By Ben van der Meer – Senior Reporter, Sacramento Business Journal
May 9, 2024
A design review committee in Cameron Park will consider an apartment proposal next week that will also serve as a test of a new state law.
José Lujano, a project manager with San Diego-based Affirmed Housing, said Bass Lake Family Apartments would be an affordable project of 126 units southwest of where Bass Lake Road meets Green Valley Road in Rescue.
"What we propose is something that ties into the local context," Lujano said. "We think it's a great candidate for family housing."
In a series of two- and three-story buildings, Bass Lake would have rents corresponding to people making 50% to 80% of area median income. Though there are studios and one-bedroom apartments, he said, the goal is to provide housing for families.
According to a pre-application filed with El Dorado County, the unit breakdown is 32 studio units of 416 square feet each, 30 one-bedroom units of 562 square feet each, 31 two-bedroom units of 796 square feet each and 31 three-bedroom units of 983 square feet each. There are also two units designated for managers.
Plans show site amenities would include a community room, community garden, tot lot, bocce ball court, dog park and sport courts. The site would also have 170 parking spaces, while total building square footage would be 122,508 square feet on a 5.43-acre site.
Lujano said the site is defined as both rural and in a high-resource area, which makes it more competitive for funding. If entitlements are secured, Affirmed Housing plans to apply for tax credits in August.
Bass Lake will also be possibly the first test in the region of Assembly Bill 2011, which allows by-right approvals of affordable housing projects on land zoned for commercial use. Lujano said that description applies to the project site, which doesn't currently have an address.
If tax credits are secured, construction could start in early summer 2025, he said. Though it's a very rough estimate while design and other elements are still being refined, the cost is currently expected to be about $75 million, he said.
Though he acknowledged that's a big number — roughly $600,000 per unit — Lujano said affordable housing projects don't compare easily to other kinds of housing.
Deed restrictions on affordable projects retain their rent structure for 55 years, meaning their value remains relatively flat compared to other kinds of housing that are more subject to market forces, he said.
"For us, how we bring the cost down is we assemble many different sources together," he said, explaining that putting solar on the project, as an example, gives the apartments an additional tax credit.
Bass Lake would be Affirmed Housing's first project in El Dorado County.
Source: https://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2024/05/09/rescue-apartment-proposal.html