Community Housing Opportunities Corp. (CHOC) has been awarded $21 million to develop the first affordable housing complex to be built in Palm Springs, California, in 12 years, according to officials.
The nonprofit affordable housing developer plans to break ground on the 60-unit development in the fourth quarter of 2021.
“CHOC has been unwavering and tenacious in pushing this forward in the midst of a global pandemic,” said Vincent Nicholas, vice president of real estate development at CHOC. “It has been a true labor of love totally focused on creating equitable communities throughout the Coachella Valley, and this funding pushes this 60-unit development from theoretical to a reality.”
The Monarch Apartment Homes recently received a reservation of low-income housing tax credits from the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee and tax-exempt bonds from the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee, which will raise an estimated $21 million for the $29 million complex.
Located on a 3.6-acre vacant parcel of land, CHOC is developing the one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartment homes in partnership with the city.
“We know that too many working families in the Coachella Valley are unstably housed, making impossible decisions every month between paying for housing and other necessities such as health care, healthy food, and child care. By bringing more units of quality affordable housing to the region, the Monarch Apartments expands access to safe, stable, and affordable housing to more families,” said Taylor Libolt Varner, regional affordable housing planner for Lift to Rise, a Coachella Valley-based nonprofit dedicated to solving the underlying causes of poverty and inequality in the region. “We are grateful to CHOC, the city of Palm Springs, and everyone involved for investing in Coachella Valley families through this development.”
The development was designed under the direction of Maria Song, principal with the Palm Springs-based architectural firm Interactive Design Corp.
