Elk Grove hosts lottery for affordable apartments; more than 100 units to open in early 2023
Elk Grove — facing a lawsuit, state scrutiny and criticism from advocates after leaders denied a proposed affordable housing project on the city’s east side — is holding a lottery for more than 100 lower-cost units set to open next year.
Prospective tenants who qualify can apply for the drawing online for the one- two- and three-bedroom units in the Gardens at Quail Run II complex, 10120 Bruceville Road, through Nov. 10. Applicants need not be Elk Grove residents to enter the lottery by city officials and Quail Run’s developers. A randomly ranked list of 300 applicants will be selected and contacted by email.
The 107 units at the complex on Bruceville Road south of Elk Grove Boulevard are expected to be available in early 2023, with move-in dates potentially beginning in late January depending on when construction is completed, Elk Grove officials said this week. The units are in the second phase of the initial Quail Run complex, which opened in 2021.
The units are open to households at 30%, 50%, 60% and 80% of the area’s median income. Rents range from $472 to $1,960. The majority of units are in the 60th percentile, with rents ranging from $1,042 to $1,433. Section 8 and Housing Choice vouchers are also accepted.
Elk Grove has come under fire for its response to the city’s ongoing affordable housing crisis.
The city was upbraided by state housing officials in October who said officials broke state law in rejecting the proposed 67-unit Oak Rose Apartments in the Old Town historic district in July. The planned three-story building on Elk Grove Boulevard near Waterman Road would provide permanent housing and services for low-income families who had been homeless.
The state Department of Housing and Community Development’s report also called on city officials to develop “a specific plan for corrective action, including allowing the (Oak Rose) project to move forward.”
The report was issued the same day Oak Rose developers sued the city alleging Elk Grove officials ignored state housing law designed to fast-track affordable housing.
The state’s report also noted Elk Grove has met less than 1% of its very low income housing needs and just more than 5% of low income needs in the current planning period, down from 7% in the previous period.
For every open apartment, as many as 20 people have applications in the queue hoping to move in, city staffers told Elk Grove City Council in June.
The city of Elk Grove has 18 affordable apartment communities with about 2,300 units, according to city officials. But Elk Grove needs to build more than 4,200 units of housing for very-low and low-income families this decade, according to a regional housing needs analysis by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments.
Elk Grove has approved the development of 1,016 affordable housing units since January 2021, officials said in October, including the second phase of The Gardens at Quail Run. Construction of nearly 700 units is expected to begin in the coming months with more than 300 units in the development and financing stage, said City Manager Jason Behrmann.
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