Riverside to receive $27M for 150-unit affordable housing project

The city of Riverside is set to receive more than $27 million in affordable housing funds to build a 150-unit apartment complex. 

The project, which is overseen jointly by Riverside officials and developer Eden Housing Inc., will be called Mulberry Gardens Family Apartments, officials said. It will have 24 units for families at or below 30% of area median income, 91 units for families at 50% of AMI, 32 units for families at 60% of AMI and one manager unit.

The design of the apartment complex features two outdoor courtyards with drought-tolerant landscaping, shaded seating areas, a “tot lot,” bocce ball court, fitness area as well as an area with BBQ and picnic tables, according to the California Department of Housing and Community Development. 

The state Affordable Housing Sustainable and Communities Program provided more than $757 million to pay for 2,552 homes in 16 jurisdictions throughout California, in addition to infrastructure upgrades to walkways, bikeways, crosswalks, streetlights, landscaping and bus stops, state housing officials reported.

“The $27,974,220 designated for Riverside will fund the project near Mulberry and Holding streets in downtown Riverside, just west of Highway 91 at the old CalFire site, 2524 Mulberry Street,” according to the city.

“Our state is in great need of affordable housing, so it is a testament to our staff’s efforts that this project was the only one in the Inland region to receive funding,” Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson said in a statement. “Riverside competed on the statewide stage and came away a winner.”

Based on Riverside’s Active Transportation Plan, “the Mulberry Gardens Family Apartments project will construct new sidewalk, bike lanes, bus shelters, crosswalks, and street trees,” the state housing department reported. 

“This project will provide safe and attractive housing for families who otherwise would struggle to find a place to live at market rates,” Mayor Pro Tem Erin Edwards, who represents the ward in which the project is located, said in a statement. “It is encouraging to see our city making progress on providing much-needed housing units.”

The state affordable housing grants provide funding for real estate developments that connect housing to local public transportation with the aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions at the local level, Riverside officials said. 

“California is reimagining communities around the state to address the ways our cities are changing — adapting to climate change and addressing housing scarcity,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement last month announcing the AHSC funding. “These investments will help cut carbon pollution and build more affordable housing as we look forward to a clean energy future.”

Riverside will receive “42 zero-emissions CalVans … to give more accessible transportation options for residents and the surrounding neighborhoods,” according to state housing officials.

“About $12.5 million of the local funding is set aside for the City to perform Sustainable Transportation Infrastructure projects in the neighborhood around the new development,” city officials said.

These projects will provide improvements to safe pedestrian access along Spruce Street, Mulberry Street and adjacent roadways through concrete sidewalks, high visibility crosswalks, class III bikeways, LED flashing stop lights, radar speed feedback signs and audible pedestrian signals, officials said.

Riverside’s proposed project received the second-highest score, 88.33, among 21 applicants for Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities grants, city officials said. Riverside’s proposal was the only project in the Inland Empire to receive funding. The one higher-scoring project was in Los Angeles, with a score of 88.66.

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