Affordable Housing Approved in Palm Desert

PALM SPRINGS, CA - The Palm Desert Planning Commission on Tuesday unanimously approved an affordable housing project that could provide 144 units of rental housing for low-income to moderate-income families. The project, which earned a 5-0 vote, has been tentatively named Crossings at Palm Desert, said Mark P. Irving, director of land planning for Urban Housing Communities, the developer on the project.

Located at 73-500 35th Ave. in the area north of Frank Sinatra Drive, the 11.8-acre project site would include 90 two-bedroom apartments and 54 three-bedroom apartments, with rents fixed between $363 and $932 a month. "I'm in favor of the project. I think it's a perfect spot," said Commissioner Connor Limont, who also expressed reservations about the project height. The complex would include 10 two-story buildings, topping out at 29 feet, 5 inches. City code limits residential buildings to a maximum of 24 feet.

Urban Housing's original design had complied with the code, but the company redesigned the roof line at the request of the city's Architectural Review Commission. "Our answer to architectural questions is to go up?" Limont said, before joining the unanimous vote. The project goes next to the City Council, probably in January, said Lauri Aylaian, director of community development.

The site is also near land owned by the Palm Springs Unified School District, which has targeted the location for a future elementary school. "We find that an important element. Kids can walk to school," Irving said. "You have a reduction in traffic. It makes life better for people who live there."

The project is scheduled to break ground in fall of 2009, so long as the developers can obtain the funding in tax-free bonds and tax credits they will now apply for, Irving said. "While the current situation has had an impact, tax credits and bonds are out there, and the opportunities to get them seem positive," he said.