Construction starts on one of Sacramento’s largest affordable housing developments

The long transformation of Stockton Boulevard continues.

Construction has started on 200 affordable housing units at 4995 Stockton Blvd. in Sacramento, an eight-acre space that had been one of the thoroughfare’s many vacant lots for years. The land is just south of 22nd Avenue and backs up to the West Campus High School and Mark Twain Elementary School campuses.

The development is the largest in the Sacramento region being built by prominent affordable housing developer Mercy Housing California. The city of Sacramento granted $15 million to the project from its affordable housing funds.

Sacramento Councilmen Eric Guerra and Jay Schenirer, who represent the area, have worked on a revitalization plan for the Stockton Boulevard corridor for nearly a decade. Part of the plan encouraged housing.

“We cannot look at these vacant lots and closed-up businesses as detriments,” Guerra said Thursday during a ceremonial groundbreaking for the housing development. “We have to start looking at them as opportunities.”

“If we don’t address housing, if we don’t address that issue, we’re not going to meet the needs of our city and we’re not going to change the dynamics of making sure our businesses stay afloat,” he added.

The city of Sacramento needs to build nearly 17,000 units of housing for very low- and low-income residents this decade, according to a 2020 assessment of the region’s housing by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments. Several hundred units of affordable housing are under construction or have opened in recent months, but with limited funding, the city still faces a severe shortfall.

“This is what we are supposed to be doing, this is what Sacramento needs,” said Kendra Lewis, executive director of the Sacramento Housing Alliance. “As busy as we all are, we should be going to one of these (groundbreaking ceremonies) once a month because this is what we need in our region, to make the change to get people off the streets or keep them housed in affordable housing.”

The new community will have a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Most of the units will have two or three bedrooms, creating affordable housing options for larger families.

The residences will be available for those making between 30% and 70% of the area median income, or roughly between $30,000 and $70,000 per year.

The project is expected to be completed in 2024.

This story was originally published August 19, 2022 at 5:00 AM.