Council approves financing for I Street affordable housing project; $2M PLHA loan and bond authorization cleared
Summary
Council approved staff recommendations to authorize tax-exempt mortgage revenue bonds and a $2,000,000 PLHA loan for an 8-story, 84-unit I Street Apartments project serving households at approximately 30–80% AMI; Council directed follow-up design review and entitlements.
The Sacramento City Council approved staff requests to authorize the issuance of tax-exempt mortgage revenue bonds and a $2,000,000 loan of Permanent Local Housing Allocation (PLHA) funds for the I Street Apartments, an 8-story, 84-unit affordable housing development proposed at 15th and I Street.
Christine Weigert of the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency summarized the project: the building would include one- and two-bedroom units, bicycle storage, laundry facilities, an outdoor courtyard, a community computer room and on-site resident services (a minimum of 15 service hours). Weigert said the project recently secured over $33 million from the state’s Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities program, of which $21.8 million is earmarked for housing development and the remainder for infrastructure improvements; Community HousingWorks is the nonprofit developer leading the project and ConAm will provide property management.
Councilmembers thanked staff and closed the public hearing; no public speakers registered on item 17. Councilmember Roger (Mayor Pro Tem Guerra) moved to close the hearing and move the item; the motion was seconded and passed. Councilmember Roger Pro Tem Guerra (sic) praised the project’s attention to active transportation and bike parking. Councilmember Dickinson asked technical questions about a proposed fence shown on site plans, noting the appearance impact of fencing on a building that will occupy most of its lot; staff responded that fencing is commonly proposed to provide controlled access to limited parking (the project includes only seven parking spaces) and that design review and entitlements remain to be completed.
The council’s actions authorize bond issuance and the PLHA loan; the developer must complete entitlement, permitting and design review steps before construction begins.
Representative quote: "Typically, the affordable housing developers want to make sure... that there's controlled access... to the parking area," said Christine Weigert (SHRA).
