City Council to consider loan agreement for multi-family apartments on Allison Drive
To follow up on a 2019 zone change by the Vacaville City Council to amend the Allison Business Park Policy Plan and construct residential apartments on Allison Drive, the council will now consider a disposition, development, and loan agreement at its Tuesday meeting.
According to a staff report by Housing Services Director Emily Cantu, the council voted on March 26, 2019, to, among other things, apply a Residential Overly zone to two cityowned parcels on Allison Drive to allow for commercial and residential uses. The city is opting to construct below-market rate multi-family housing on the parcels.
“These sites are a prime location to include new multi-family dwelling units due to the direct access to transit facilities and being within walking distance of retail, service, employment, and the Ulatis Cultural Center, Performing Arts Center, and Public Library,” Cantu wrote.
A year later, the council approved an agreement with Sacramento-based real estate developer CFY Development, Inc. to allow staff to negotiate with CFY for mixed-income housing on part of the property while allowing the rest of it to be developed for commercial or retail purposes in the future.
The plan for the project includes 187 apartments, a playground, athletic court, dog park, barbecue areas, and pedestrian paths to the nearby Vacaville Transit Center, in keeping with a request made by Solano Transportation Authority.
“CFY has invested their own funds, at their own risk, to assist in expediting the timing of the project, if approved,” Cantu wrote. “This investment includes preparing and submitting an application for project entitlements to the Community Development Department.”
Under the prosed agreement, the city would sell the land at fair market value based on third-party appraisal and provide a $1.9 million loan provided by STA through incentive funding, per the report. The rental values would be between $1,267 and $1,621 depending on the unit bedroom size, and rents would be restricted to at or below 80 percent of the area median income. This would amount to $73,950 per year for a family of four or $35 an hour if one of the household members is employed full time.
Staff is recommending the council approve the agreement and give City Manager Aaron Busch the authority to finalize, modify and execute documents to implement it. Should the council approve the agreement, CFY would conduct public outreach and consider approval by the appropriate agencies.
In other matters, the council will receive an annual progress report on the General Plan and a presentation by the Solano County Workforce Development Board on its plan for the next four fiscal years.
The council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The Zoom link is Cov.zoom.us/s/9956 9804654?pwd=TENqcXhW cnlmYzEwbmt0MkdkTTdWZz09, and the password is 639925. Participants may also join by phone by dialing 267-831-0333 or 301715-8592 or toll-free at 877853-5257 or 888-475-4499. Participants may dial *67 before the number if they wish to keep their number from being displayed on the screen.
The meeting may also be viewed on Channel 26 or online at Youtube.com/ user/CityofVacaville/videos.