Work Begins on $90M Affordable Housing Project Near Palm Springs

Coachella Valley Housing Coalition (CVHC) has broken ground on a $90 million green affordable housing development on about 15 acres in La Quinta, Calif., an upscale community near Palm Springs.When completed, the development (pictured) will offer 218 residences affordable to families earning 35 percent to 50 percent of the area’s median income, or about $30,000 per year for a family of four.Wolff Waters Place, as it will be called, includes 22 buildings designed as townhouses, flats and garden apartments, each with a private outdoor patio or balcony. According to CVCH, the development is unusual in that it targets large families, who often have a difficult time finding affordable housing.Half the apartments have three or four bedrooms and will be offered at rents as much as 65 percent below market-rate apartments. The project expects to obtain LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for the use of various sustainable construction and designelements.The city of La Quinta’s Redevelopment Agency sold the project site to CVHC for $1, and made $30 million available to help fund the project. Additional funding came from Citibank and Wells Fargo, which invested $43 million in Wolff Waters Place through National Equity Fund Inc., which syndicated the project’s federal low-income housing tax credits.In addition to affordable residences, the project will also offer such services as English as a second language classes, art and nutrition classes; computer training classes; a homeownership program; an aquatics program; and after-school and summer camp programs, among others. The project is slated for completion in 2010.