WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Local and regional housing partners marked the groundbreaking Thursday for River Grove Apartments, a $27.7 million affordable housing development at 641 Fifth St. that will provide 36 rental homes for extremely low-income households, with a focus on individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and veterans experiencing homelessness.
The project is being developed by Brinshore Development, Operative Office, New Hope Community Development Corporation and Yolo County Housing. Construction began Jan. 8, and the development is expected to begin leasing in 2027. When completed, the multi-story, elevator-served building will include 32 two-bedroom units and four one-bedroom units, along with an on-site manager’s apartment, totaling about 28,000 square feet of residential space.
“This affordable housing project serves as a critical part of our larger community health continuum,” said Oscar Villegas, Yolo County supervisor for District 1. “Our county safety net services and health programs can only do so much if our residents don’t have an affordable and warm place to sleep at night.”
All 36 rental units will be reserved for extremely low-income households and supported by project-based vouchers from Yolo County Housing. Eighteen units will serve individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in partnership with Alta California Regional Center, and four units will serve veterans through the HUD-VASH program. The John Stewart Company will provide property management services.
“This project reflects the best of what public service can be: different sectors, different partners, all aligned around one shared goal — ensuring people have a safe, stable place to call home,” said Dr. Dawnté Early, a West Sacramento City Council member for District 3 and a commissioner with Yolo County Housing and New Hope Community Development Corporation. “For me, this work is personal because at one point my family relied on affordable housing programs, and that access made it possible for us to call West Sacramento home.”
River Grove Apartments will include dedicated community space for supportive services and is designed to meet California’s current energy-efficiency standards. On-site services will include a service coordinator to connect residents to community resources, provide advocacy and organize community-building activities, as well as a supported living specialist to help residents maintain housing stability, build life skills, and access education and employment opportunities. Alta California Regional Center will contribute ongoing services funding for residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including individual planning, service coordination, employment training, supported and independent living services, and other housing supports.
“This project faced multiple hurdles along the way, and we’re so grateful to every organization that believed in this project, adjusted with us along the way, and helped ensure we would make it to this point,” said Ian Evans, president and CEO of New Hope Community Development Corporation and executive director of Yolo County Housing. “Today is exciting because it means that in the not-too-distant future, we’ll be seeing people move into their new homes—people who will have a roof over their head, a place to call home, and services when they need them.”
The development relies on a complex funding package common to affordable housing projects in California. Financing includes competitive 9% Low-Income Housing Tax Credits from the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee, an Infill Infrastructure Grant from the California Department of Housing and Community Development, funding from the California Department of Developmental Services through Alta California Regional Center, Yolo County’s Permanent Local Housing Allocation, and support from the City of West Sacramento. R4 Capital is serving as the equity investor, and Citizens Business Bank, N.A. is the debt investment partner.
“Delivering affordable housing takes real partnership across every level of government and strong community organizations,” said Rep. Doris Matsui, whose district includes West Sacramento. “Thanks to Brinshore Development, New Hope CDC, Operative Office, Alta California, and the dedicated public servants at the Yolo County Housing Authority and the City of West Sacramento, River Grove Apartments is becoming a reality. When completed, this development will provide 37 affordable homes in the heart of West Sacramento, close to services, transit, and green space. Projects like this are how we bring meaningful investments into our community, create real stability for families, and ensure more people have the peace of mind that comes with a safe, affordable place to call home.”
Several local and state officials attended the event or sent representatives, including staff from the offices of Rep. Matsui, state Sen. Christopher Cabaldon and Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry. West Sacramento City Council members Verna Sulpizio Hall and Quirina Orozco were also present. Speakers included West Sacramento Mayor Martha Guerrero, Early, and Villegas.
“The need for affordable housing is critical, and the City of West Sacramento embraces projects like River Grove Apartments to meet the needs of individuals and families,” Guerrero said. “We’re committed to supporting innovative projects that support our most vulnerable community members and look forward to the official ribbon cutting in the near future.”
As an infill development on an underutilized urban site, River Grove Apartments is intended to advance West Sacramento’s commitment to expanding housing options for residents who face significant barriers in the private rental market, while bringing new housing and activity to the surrounding neighborhood.
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$750,000/ Affordable unit?
That might actually be below the average cost. This is part of the problem – the cost of construction.
It’s not ‘part of the problem’, it’s the current market and what things cost. Do you expect the cost of construction to go down? Spiraling deflation? All the unions dissolve?
Are you kidding, it’s a huge part of the problem.
So what’s your solution to bring the cost of construction down David?
I don’t have a solution, I’m just pointing out a problem
And yet people are complaining about market rate houses at the same price not being affordable.
It’s actually worse than that, people are complaining about a certain project not being affordable and yet the average price is about two standard deviations before median.
“[H]ard costs make up about 60% of total development costs, and so any significant effort make development cheaper at scale will have to reckon with how to lower these costs. One obvious local policy fix that can help is removing minimum parking requirements. Over 10% of the hard costs above are for building underground parking. This usually always translates into seven-figures of additional cost that can make or break a development project. I have personally worked on several projects saved by lowering parking minimums in Arlington. Nationally, dozens of localities (e.g. Minneapolis) have eliminated parking to the effect of sharp increases in housing production.
On a federal level, wage requirements attached to federal funding can also dramatically raise costs. Although I haven’t broken them out separately, two of the projects in the sample above include federal funding that requires prevailing wage rates per the Davis-Bacon Act. These projects have about 30% higher base building costs than the rest of the sample. Although these wage requirements might be a worthwhile labor policy goal, the tradeoff in reduced affordable housing production is very real.
Beyond this, reducing hard costs is hard, complicated work. Construction costs have consistently outpaced inflation for the past 100 years, and there’s some evidence that stagnating labor productivity is a major cause. Reducing these costs will take the hard work of both increased hiring in the construction sector combined with innovation of building practices. Suffice it to say that recent calls to restrict immigration and increase tariffs will only make these costs worse.”
https://housinginpractice.substack.com/p/how-much-does-it-cost-to-build-subsidized
Adjusting for lower labor costs and reducing parking would lower the per unit cost to about $460K. This is more likely the market-rate construction cost. Not clear whether this project cost includes additional infrastructure that a builder in a new development would incur (instead born by the project developer.)
“removing minimum parking requirements”
The problem then of course is where do people park their cars?
As for the Davis-Bacon Act, this can be found at Black Bear Diner on any given morning :-|
Having no parking minimums doesn’t necessarily mean no parking.
But it might mean no financing.
Democrat policies are a big part of the CA housing cost problem:
“Mandatory prevailing wage + Project Labor Agreements (PLAs)
California aggressively enforces:
Prevailing wage on most public and many “quasi-public” projects
PLAs that favor union labor
Critics argue:
Prevailing wage often exceeds actual market wages, especially outside coastal metros
PLAs reduce bidder competition
Small and minority-owned contractors are disproportionately excluded
Result: Labor costs on public projects can be 20–40% higher than comparable private builds.”
“High energy and utility costs
California’s climate and energy policies affect construction indirectly.
Critics argue:
High electricity and fuel costs raise material manufacturing prices
Electrification mandates increase mechanical and electrical system costs
Utility connection fees are among the highest in the nation
Result: Even before occupancy, projects face higher baseline operating and construction costs.”
“Taxes, fees, and impact charges
California local governments rely heavily on development fees.
Common fees include:
School impact fees
Transportation fees
Affordable housing linkage fees
Park and utility fees
Critics argue:
Fees can add $100,000+ per unit in some cities
Costs are passed directly to buyers and renters
Fees are used to backfill budgets instead of infrastructure expansion”
This looks to be AI generated and there are lots of problems with it.
Just one example, PLA’s are common in public projects, such as UC Davis building housing, but there is no project labor agreement with this project.
Affordable housing projects in California generally do not use project labor agreements
David
As Don pointed out, federal, and often state, funding requires prevailing wage which usually means the local union negotiated wage. Whether there is a PLA doesn’t matter.
My comment was referring to housing construction costs in general in California.
Very few projects are subject to PLA as I mentioned and you didn’t respond.
We can go through the whole list if you wish to engage…
I understood that the ENTIRE CITY of West Sacramento “is” affordable housing.
Or to paraphrase Frank Sinatra: “If you can’t make it there . . . you can’t make it anywhere”
Ron O
Where did you get that idea? Have you been to Southport?
Well, YOU gave me that idea (in comparison to Davis prices) for one thing.
Not to mention Zillow, my own observations, etc.
Let me know if you want me to find some cheap houses there.
Looks like this is a good place to start (recently-sold homes):
https://www.zillow.com/west-sacramento-ca/sold/?searchQueryState=%7B%22pagination%22%3A%7B%7D%2C%22isMapVisible%22%3Atrue%2C%22mapBounds%22%3A%7B%22west%22%3A-121.86597724804687%2C%22east%22%3A-121.33039375195312%2C%22south%22%3A38.466449852987935%2C%22north%22%3A38.80061147747061%7D%2C%22regionSelection%22%3A%5B%7B%22regionId%22%3A41665%2C%22regionType%22%3A6%7D%5D%2C%22filterState%22%3A%7B%22sort%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3A%22pricea%22%7D%2C%22fsba%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22fsbo%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22nc%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22cmsn%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22auc%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22fore%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22rs%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Atrue%7D%7D%2C%22isListVisible%22%3Atrue%2C%22mapZoom%22%3A11%2C%22usersSearchTerm%22%3A%22West%20Sacramento%20CA%22%7D