Council OKs Loan for Affordable Apartments

A 70-unit apartment building offering affordable housing is closer to reality after the City Council this week gave preliminary approval for a $1.4-million loan to the developer, Cabrillo Economic Development Corp. of Saticoy.

The $12.7-million Plaza del Sol would be built at Alamo Street and Fairbanks Avenue. Cabrillo, the county’s largest private developer of low-income housing, must arrange the remaining financing, which would come from the California Housing Agency, federal housing programs and private sources in exchange for tax credits.

“Simi Valley needs affordable, good-quality rental housing,� Rodney Fernandez, Cabrillo’s executive director, said Tuesday. “‘Affordable’ is for people making up to $42,000 a year.�

Cabrillo would set aside 34 of the one- to four-bedroom apartments for households making no more than 60% of the median income for Ventura County families. Rents on those units would range from $683 for one bedroom up to $1,148 for a four-bedroom unit. The rent on the other apartments would average $1,200 for a two-bedroom unit.