Council approves loan from in-lieu housing fund to help build 41-unit Del Rio Ridge affordable housing project
Loading...
Summary
The council authorized an additional $527,573 from the city's affordable housing in-lieu fund to help People Self Help Housing begin construction of the 41-unit Del Rio Ridge affordable housing project; the city had previously committed $400,000 to the development.
The Atascadero City Council unanimously authorized a loan of $527,573 from the city’s affordable-housing in-lieu fee fund to People Self Help Housing to help advance the Del Rio Ridge project to construction. Council had previously committed $400,000 to the project in 2020.
Planning Manager Kelly Gleeson told council the project — a 41-unit apartment development with an onsite manager’s unit — targets extremely low-, very low-, and low-income households and is expected to be 100% affordable except for the manager unit. The developer has been working through a state funding pipeline and needs the city loan to complete its capital stack and pull building permits; staff described the request as an alternative to a previously used deferred impact-fee program because the accelerator funding the developer obtained requires a longer loan term than the city’s deferral program allows.
Gleeson said the city’s in-lieu fund balance is sufficient to cover the requested loan (staff reported a balance of roughly $1.3 million) and that repayment would begin at project final occupancy. The applicant representative, Isabella Valdez of People Self Help Housing, told the council the money is “essential to making the project feasible” and said construction permitting is expected to move forward so the developer can start construction early next year.
Council member Funk moved to authorize the funding and direct staff to prepare the loan agreement for future council approval; Council member Peake seconded. Roll call recorded unanimous approval.
Why this matters: Atascadero, like many California cities, faces a shortage of deeply affordable rental housing. The Del Rio Ridge project is intended to supply units affordable to households at the lowest end of the income scale, and the council’s loan is intended to keep the project on a state grant and tax-credit timeline.
Next steps: Staff will finalize loan documents with People Self Help Housing and return a formal loan agreement to the council for recordation and execution. The developer expects to begin construction permitting shortly and complete the project in 2027, at which time loan repayments will start.
