New San Jose Affordable Community Now Officially Open

By Alex Girda

San Jose, Calif.—A new affordable housing community was recently unveiled in San Jose by ROEM Corp., a full-service development and construction company based in Santa Clara, Calif. The developer opened the Oak Grove Apartments, an affordable housing project that will cater to low-income families earning less than 60 percent of Santa Clara County’s median income.

Oak Grove

Located at 5568 Lexington Ave., the community is part of a master-planned development that is taking shape on the former site of the Hitachi Global Storage Technologies campus. The 295-acre masterplan calls for condo units, rentals, townhomes, parks, as well as a 10-acre park with a baseball field to be built. Resident amenities at Oak Grove will include a community room, computer room, children’s outdoor play area, gym, laundry facility, and outdoor courtyard.

Consisting of a five-story building that wraps around a multi-story, 149-space parking facility, the community was built pursuing LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Oak Grove is already fully leased and offers environmentally minded features, including water-efficient fixtures, landscaping that uses native species and zero turf, Energy Star appliances, high efficiency windows, as well as a solar PV system.

Financing for the $34 million development project was sourced through Low Income Housing Tax Credits, and tax-exempt bond financing. Additionally, a $17.8 million permanent loan was provided by Citi Community Capital, while Alliant Capital Ltd. also provided some funding. Pacific Housing is a partner in the project designed by Architects Orange and built by contractor ROEM Builders.

Image courtesy of ROEM Corp.