Phoenix Development Co. Breaks Ground on Affordable California Community
In partnership with Integrity Housing, the company began construction on the Santa Rosa property, which is scheduled for completion in August 2021.
Dutton Flats. Image courtesy of Phoenix Development Co.
To address the lack of affordable housing in Santa Rosa, Calif., Phoenix Development Co. and Integrity Housing have begun construction on the 41-unit Dutton Flats Apartments. The affordable housing project also closed a $13 million construction loan from Exchange Bank and a $3.1 million loan from the Housing Authority of the City of Santa Rosa.
Located at 214 W. 3rd St., the site for Dutton Flats was previously a vacant lot. The developers will be constructing a community for low-income families with children who make 30 to 60 percent of the area’s median income, Anjela Ponce, Integrity’s executive vice president, told Multi-Housing News. Ponce added that Dutton Flats is scheduled for an August 2021 completion.
The community will be split into 15 three-bedroom, 15 two-bedroom and 11 one-bedroom units with one of the units being reserved for the manager. The property’s amenities will include a community room, a laundry room, a technology center, a bike kitchen, a fitness center, a children’s activity room, a picnic and barbecue area and a bus shelter. The developers will also be incorporating sustainability practices throughout the building with solar hot water heating, rainwater harvesting for its drought-tolerant landscaping, Energy Star appliances, LED lighting and high-efficiency heating and energy-conserving windows and insulation.
Dutton Flats is being built by Precision General Commercial Contractors and was designed by KTGY Architecture and Planning. The developers also tapped FPI Management to run the community. Elsewhere in California, Integrity Housing was also the development partner on a 72-unit permanent supportive housing project in Santa Ana, Calif., that was converted from a two-story hotel.
LACK OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Ponce told MHN that prior to the Dutton Flats project, there was no affordable housing in downtown Santa Rosa. She explained that the City of Santa Rosa was looking to create affordable housing in the area to address the housing needs of those who walk or take a bus to their downtown employers.
Ponce also told MHN that the addition of the units from Dutton Flats would mitigate the overall loss of housing from the Tubbs fire that affected the surrounding area. The major fire that began in October 2017 and lasted until February 2018 destroyed more than 5,636 structures and damaged 317, including residential, commercial and other property types, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
