Community Housing Improvement Systems and Planning Association (CHISPA) has begun construction of Mills Ranch Apartments in King City, offering 40 affordable apartments.
Thirty of the apartments will be reserved for farm working families and construction completion is anticipated by the end of 2027.
“We want to make sure that people who work hard every day, don't look for opportunities elsewhere; they should be able to live here at home and that’s what this is going to be,” said Dominic Dursa, district director for California State Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas.
The project spans across five parcels within the Mills Ranch Subdivision on Ermosa Way, Legacy Drive and Brandywine Lane with one standalone parcel and two sets of two contiguous parcels. Each building will be two stories, with two and three-bedroom units in a townhome configuration and several two-bedroom flat designs. A property manager will live on site. Each building will have 16 tuck-under garage parking spaces (including one van accessible), providing two parking spaces per unit.
A community room serving all five sites will be on Legacy Drive. CHISPA partners with more than 40 nonprofit service providers to offer classes and activities for residents and local neighbors.
This is part of the 92-acre Mills Ranch project under development by Nino Homes. The development was approved by King City City Council in 2005.
CHISPA secured an Affordable Housing Sustainable Communities (AHSC) award, a state initiative in California that provides grants and loans to fund compact, affordable housing developments linked with sustainable transportation.
The AHSC funding totals nearly $11.7 million to help finance building construction, transportation improvements and community programs, according to Dana Cleary, CHISPA director of real estate development.
With some of this funding, King City will construct about $3.2 million in bicycle, pedestrian and landscaping improvements, including a new 2.2-mile multi-use path connecting neighborhoods along San Antonio Drive, Metz Road, First Street, Beech Street, King Street and North Second Street.
Funding for the project also includes a construction loan from the U.S. Bank, $13,997,465 tax credit equity from National Equity Fund, $8 million of federal HOME loan funds, about $4 million of Joe Serna Farmworker funds from the State of California Department of Housing and Community Development, $1 million from the Central California Alliance for Health (the Alliance), $126,187 from the City and about $14,000 from the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, according to Cleary.
CHISPA purchased the land with loans from Housing Trust Silicon Valley and Pacific Valley Bank. Upon completion, Rocky Mountain Community Reinvestment Corporation will serve as the permanent lender.
The projected total development cost is about $36 million.
“Affordable housing is a lot more than low-cost housing, it's an investment into our future,” said King City Mayor Mike LeBarre at the July 15 groundbreaking ceremony. “California has become very expensive to live in and these types of projects are too rare. . . more of these projects must continue to grow not only in our city, in our county but in our state.”