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Oxnard council approves TEFRA actions to advance three affordable housing projects
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Summary
The council held TEFRA hearings and adopted resolutions enabling CMFA tax‑exempt bond financing for Aspire Apartments (88 units, up to $25M), Cypress Place Phase 2 (60 units, up to $20M) and Lockwood 3 (234 units, up to $70M); council noted modest interest-rate savings and voted 6–0 on each item.
The Oxnard City Council on Tuesday held tax‑equity and fiscal responsibility (TEFRA) hearings and adopted resolutions to permit tax‑exempt bond financing for three affordable‑housing developments in the city.
Housing Director Brenda Lopez explained the hearings are procedural requirements that allow the California Municipal Finance Authority (CMFA) to issue or reissue exempt‑facility bonds for projects located in Oxnard; the city is not a party to the financings and assumes no liability. The council heard three separate items: Aspire Apartments (an 88‑unit project, bonds up to $25,000,000), Cypress Place at Garden City Phase 2 (60 units, bonds up to $20,000,000) and Lockwood 3 (234 units, bonds up to $70,000,000). Each item was published with a legal notice and staff reported no written communications on the matters.
Supporters said the bond authority helps make projects financially viable. Jackson Piper of Ventura County EMB, a local housing advocacy group, urged the council to approve the staff recommendations, saying the combined pipeline would add hundreds of affordable homes in Oxnard. Catherine, director of multifamily housing at People’s Self Help Housing, told the council that tax‑exempt bond financing typically produces roughly 1 to 2 percentage points of interest‑rate savings compared with private construction loans, though she cautioned recent market rate increases have reduced that gap.
Council members asked how large the public benefit was and what interest‑rate savings the projects would produce in dollars. Staff and developer representatives said the savings vary by deal and market conditions and pointed to the CMFA structure as a common tool for preserving affordability by lowering financing costs.
Each TEFRA hearing closed with no additional public speakers and was followed by a council vote. The council approved the Aspire Apartments, Cypress Place Phase 2 and Lockwood 3 TEFRA resolutions and related plan‑of‑finance approvals by unanimous votes of 6–0.
The CMFA will proceed with issuance if the developers elect to close on tax‑exempt bonds; the city noted it will return with any future actions it must take in its role as the local jurisdiction where the projects are located.
