Second Phase of Affordable Housing Project Under Way in Riverside County

By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor

Murrieta, Calif.—Affirmed Housing Group has broken ground for the Monte Vista Apartments in downtown Murrieta, a city in southwestern Riverside County, Calif. Monte Vista II will add 40 affordable units to the existing 64-unit Monte Vista Apartments. Once the second phase is complete, its architecture will blend seamlessly with the existing development, explains the developer.

According to the Riverside County Economic Development Agency, the estimated cost of the new phase of the property is $10.5 million. About $1 million in HUD block grant funding, approved by the city back in 2009, is one source of finance for the second phase. The new apartments will be offered to families whose income is 80 percent or less of Riverside County’s median household income.

Monte Vista II will sit on about two acres across the street from Murrieta City Hall and will share amenities with the existing Monte Vista Apartments, including a pool. A second tot lot and laundry facility will be built with the new development and available to residents of both phases of the project.

The new phase’s units will range from one to four bedrooms, as they do in the first phase. The second phase will also add some green elements to the property, including carport roof structures that will be the location of solar photovoltaic and hot water panels to provide energy for Monte Vista Apartment’s common facilities.

The existing apartment homes are located immediately north of the project site and were completed by Affirmed in 2005. The demand for affordable housing is considerable in the area, since between 2000 and 2010, according to the Census Bureau, the population of Murrieta more than doubled, from about 44,000 to 103,000.