140-unit Affordable Housing Project on Broadway Gets City Approval
Sacramento Business Journal
By Emily Hamann | August 11, 2020
A 140-unit affordable housing project on Broadway in Sacramento is moving ahead after receiving design review approval from the city earlier this month.
San Rafael-based developer EAH Housing’s site plan and design review for the property at 1901 Broadway was approved last Thursday.
The development will provide 140 units of affordable apartments across two buildings with ground-floor commercial space.
EAH is under contract to purchase the 1.25-acre property, and should close on it no later than Sept. 18, said Scott Johnson, director of business development for EAH Housing, in an email.
“As submitted, the On Broadway transit-oriented development will provide a green-certified and deed-restricted affordable residential community, ground-floor commercial space, and neighborhood transit and mobility enhancements,” Johnson wrote. “These core elements have been at the heart of the proposal since it was first proposed to the city.”
However, the project has been altered during the review process.
EAH Housing first applied for the project in May. On advice from the city, the number of units was reduced from 150 to 140, building heights were lowered from six to five stories and ground-floor commercial space was expanded from 1,700 to 3,500 square feet. Also, an expanded green space was added between the two apartment buildings.
Units would include studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments.
The project would be a permanently affordable development, with a range of rent tiers open to tenants earning from 30% to 80% of the area’s average median income.
EAH’s next move is to raise funds for the project. Including costs of buying the land, construction, fees and design, the entire cost of the project is around $70 million.
Johnson said funding applications will be submitted in the next 12 months. Once funding is approved, construction could begin toward the end of 2021.
The property is near a light rail station, and walking distance to the future Valley Rail station in Midtown.