Hopes for a housing market rebound
A look at where residents might see developments in the coming years
The housing market crash nearly a decade ago put a halt to most, if not all, housing developments in the Yuba-Sutter area, but county officials say the industry is slowly starting to rebound.
Yuba and Sutter counties are in different situations when it comes to where new developments can pop up.
Regulations largely prevent Sutter County from expanding housing options in its unincorporated areas. A significant portion of the county is designated in either a local floodplain or a Federal Emergency Management Agency-mapped floodplain, said Doug Libby, interim deputy director of Planning and Building for the county.
“That being said, almost 90 percent of Sutter County is designated agricultural and our general plan guides ‘urban development’ to within the city limits of Yuba City or Live Oak,” Libby said.
He said Yuba City and Live Oak are the primary areas of growth because they have the infrastructure to support urban development, like municipal sewer, water and drainage facilities.
Other areas of the county – places like Sutter, Nicolaus, East Nicolaus, Trowbridge, Rio Oso and Robbins – can handle smaller developments, Libby said. Large expansions or new housing developments aren’t likely in those areas because of the impact of the floodplain designation, and the lack of infrastructure to support them.
“Most development in the county is individual homes on agricultural land, agricultural processing facilities, solar installations supporting existing onsite uses and small outbuilding such as barns, garage/shop buildings, swimming pools and patio covers,” Libby said.
The biggest development the county has planned is Sutter Pointe, which would span approximately 7,528 acres in south Sutter County and essentially establish a new city along Highway 99/70.
“A full build-out interchange has been established at Riego Road and Highway 99, and in April 2017 a contract for wastewater service was entered into with the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District in Sacramento County,” Libby said.
Libby said the bad economy over the last decade limited what developers could do, which is the primary reason why the project hasn’t seen much movement lately. Still, Libby said if the economy maintains its momentum, he anticipates continued progress moving forward.
The county is hoping Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District will begin construction of the new wastewater infrastructure at Sutter Pointe by mid-2018.
While the county hasn’t completely recovered since the economic downturn, Kevin Mallen, director of the Community Development and Services Agency, said Yuba County is on the upswing.
Last year, there were 200 new homes built in the Linda and Plumas Lake communities. Mallen said this year’s construction is on pace to beat that, or at the very least remain consistent.
Unlike Sutter County, Mallen said Yuba County does not have a shortage of approved places to construct.
“There are still thousands of home sites that were approved on paper in the communities of Linda and Plumas Lake during the early 2000s, with over 700 finished home sites – roads, sidewalks, and utilities already installed – ready for the home to be constructed. As the number of finished home sites diminish, we will then see an increase in activity to complete the remaining phases of infrastructure for the home sites approved on paper,” Mallen said.
For Yuba County, the volume of homes being built is purely market driven.
“What it really boils down to is the economics involved in constructing new homes and the infrastructure to support new homes versus the market price of new homes,” Mallen said.
In the early 2000s, Mallen said, the market price for new homes in Yuba County was significantly higher than the cost of constructing the homes, which is why the county has been an attractive place to work for a variety of construction companies – national builders, local companies and nonprofits alike.
At its peak, the county was seeing as many as 1,500 new homes a year being built. While Mallen said there is a long ways to go to get back to that type of volume, he said the county is progressing in the right direction.
“After the national housing crash nearly 10 years ago, new home construction fell to almost zero in the county and it has slowly climbed back to the current rate of 200 homes a year,” Mallen said. “As home values continue to climb, so will the market for home builders to construct at a higher volume.”
The city of Wheatland has plans for two new housing developments in the future, but City Manager Greg Greeson said there is no indication of when construction will actually begin.
One development, Caliterra Ranch – formerly known as Jones Ranch – would establish 552 single-family units in Wheatland. Dale Investments Inc. is in charge of the project.
“We are working with them on their final map to get that recorded, then that will identify all of the parcels. We are at least a year away from any kind of building,” Greeson said. “It’s market dependent, so their idea is to get everything ready and to start making infrastructure improvements before starting construction, but the timing of when they will start building is in their hands.”
Heritage Oaks Estates is also planned for Wheatland, and will be split into two sections, east and west.
Heritage Oaks Estates-West, planned by the DeValentine Family Partnership, will add 173 single-family units. The company is still working on finalizing a map of the project. Greeson said the city doesn’t expect the final map to be completed until next year.
Heritage Oaks Estates-East, a project by Lewis Homes, will establish 490 single-family units and 108 multifamily units. The project is also in its final stages of mapping.
Greeson said neither company has given any indication of when it plans on starting construction on Heritage Oaks Estates.
“There is movement. No construction date is in sight, but we are moving in the right direction,” Greeson said.
Wheatland is also in talks with Taco Bell to build a restaurant within city limits. He said the city is hoping to have something in front of the planning commission by the middle of July.