OXNARD, CA - The redevelopment of a deteriorating public housing project built in 1952 is set to get the green light today from the Oxnard City Council. However, the city must get a loan from the state's Multi-Family Housing Program before the project can move forward. Word on the loan is expected by next month. The $63-million Las Cortes project, which would be completed by 2013, would demolish all 260 existing rental units and replace them with new ones. The project also would add 80 additional rentals and 161 for-sale units, increasing the total number of dwellings to 501.
A total of 101 for-sale units would be detached, with 10 percent designated as affordable. The remaining 60 for-sale units would be attached, with 20 percent designated as affordable. The City Council today will consider approving the first reading of an ordinance that will ratify a development agreement with Steadfast Residential Development LLC, a Newport Beach company that is building the project. Las Cortes occupies 31 acres at Rose Avenue and First Street.
The project would be financed by the state loan and by investors who would receive tax credits. Some project residents expressed mixed emotions upon learning Monday that the redevelopment project might soon be moving forward. "That's very good," said Artemio Magaña, 58, a member of the Colonia Village Tenant's Association. "This project is very old, the deterioration is severe," Magaña said. Among the problems he and others cited: mold, termites, lead paint, crumbling interior walls and worn electrical outlets.
Crime also is a problem at Las Cortes. Magaña said he hopes the new complex will be designed in a more secure manner. Josefina Escalera, 75, said she would prefer that the city leave her and her husband alone. She is worried about where she and her husband might end up being placed by the city. The Escaleras also don't want to be separated from their neighbors. Escalera said she also does not like the idea of possibly ending up on a second floor if she ever makes it back to Las Cortes. "That's not safe for children or older people," she said.
Larry White, an Oxnard Housing Authority official who is managing the redevelopment project, said, "The vast majority (of residents) are excited about getting into the new units." The Housing Authority is trying to minimize the impact of the project by working in phases, he said. Residents in 200 units would be required to move once, and residents in 60 units would have to move twice, White said.
While the project is under construction, the Housing Authority would place displaced residents in public or private housing elsewhere until they can return to Las Cortes. Ownership of the project would be shared between Las Cortes Corp., a recently formed nonprofit, and a new limited liability corporation that has yet to be formed, White said. The seven-member board of the Las Cortes Corp. is composed of two City Council members, one tenant, three members picked by the council and the city's former housing director.
Steadfast, which has been involved in acquiring, refurbishing or managing more than 20,000 multi-family residential units across the country, owns two apartment complexes with a total of 404 units in Oxnard, according to the company's Web site. The Las Cortes project is part of the city's ongoing efforts to upgrade its public housing stock and is the last of four projects to undergo rehabilitation or redevelopment, White said. The city currently owns 780 public housing units as well as provides Section 8 subsidies to 1,659 tenants.
Source: VenturaCountyStar.com