A nonprofit lender that supports developers building affordable housing announced Thursday it will loan $12 million to several projects in Ventura County.
Housing Trust Fund Ventura County will make loans to Arrive Ventura and Valentine Road Apartments in Ventura, Citrus Flats in Santa Paula and Aspire Apartments in Oxnard.
“For us to approve $12 million at one board meeting is a record for us,” said Linda Braunschweiger, CEO of the housing trust fund. “That’s a lot of money for a nonprofit, but the demand is so big right now. I’m sitting on $55 million in loan requests for projects just for Ventura County, but I don’t have that kind of lending capital.”
The Valentine Road Apartments, formerly a 142-room La Quinta Inn at 5818 Valentine Road, will be turned into 134 studio apartments for the homeless. The property includes a common area, community garden, on-site supportive services and a lobby for community events.
The property is receiving a $5 million construction loan from the fund.
“Their money allows us to expedite the renovations to occupy the building,” said Jeffrey Lambert, CEO of the Housing Authority of the city of San Buenaventura. “We would otherwise do it in phases.”
Lambert said the project is in plan check at the city and he hopes to have a permit for construction by the end of May. There have been contractors inside and outside the building evaluating and making final plans.
The project was an operating hotel until the housing authority closed escrow on the property about a week and a half ago.
“It’s fenced, secured and vacant at the moment until we start construction,” Lambert said.
In Oxnard, Many Mansions’ Aspire Apartments, at 536 Meta St., will also receive a $5 million construction loan.
The project includes 88 one- and two-bedroom apartments for low-income and homeless tenants. Construction could begin in June 2025 with the development finished and fully occupied by late 2027 if all goes as planned.
The loan is important because it carries a low interest rate that will lower the construction cost, said Douglas Menges, executive director of Many Mansions, in an email.
Citrus Flats and Arrive Ventura, projects from Irvine-based Red Tail Multifamily Land Development, will each receive a $1 million loan.
Citrus Flats, at 18004 E. Telegraph Road, will have 166 affordable apartments for families earning between 30% to 70% of area median income. In Ventura County, a single person making $27,900 annually is considered 30% of area median income. For a three-person household, the figure is $35,900.
Construction on the project will begin in November with estimated completion and 95% occupancy by January 2028, officials said in a news release.
Arrive Ventura, at Olivas Park Drive and Victoria Avenue, consists of 104 affordable apartments focused on families also earning between 30-70% of area median income. Construction will begin in May 2027. By January 2030, the project could be finished and mostly occupied.
The housing trust fund’s Braunschweiger said $7 million of the loan money will be matched by state Proposition 1 funding. The proposition, passed in 2018, resulted in a $25 million matching grant for local housing trust funds, she said.
Every year since 2018, the nonprofit has been able to apply for $5 million the state will match. This is the last year of the five-year program, she said.
Wes Woods II covers West County for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at wesley.woodsii@vcstar.com, 805-437-0262 or @JournoWes.
