A large new apartment community in Sacramento’s South Natomas neighborhood will include dozens of units with rents below the market rate.

The 384-unit complex proposed by Anton Development will include 96 units rented below the market rate, as well as “associated amenities for working families, young professionals and individuals desiring to live in South Natomas,” according to a development application filed with the city of Sacramento.

The proposed community will fill most of a 23-acre vacant site on Fong Ranch Road, bordering Natomas High School, Truxel Road and Interstate 80. A dozen residential buildings are planned for the project, as well as a 9,000-square-foot community building, a pool, dog spa, bike trails and “approximately 195,150 square feet of common and private open space.”

Apartments will range from 704-square-foot one-bedroom units to three-bedroom apartments of nearly 1,900 square feet. That range in size is designed to “accommodate a wide range of households,” according to the project narrative filed with the city.

The 96 units rented below market rate “will be comprised of one-bedroom units and will be offered to households earning no more than 60% of area median income.” The area median income in Sacramento County for a two-person household is about $73,000 per year.

The city of Sacramento has a severe shortage of housing available to very low- and low-income households. According to an assessment by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments, the city needs to add more than 16,000 of those housing units this decade to meet demand.

Anton wrote that one of its objectives for the project is “(s)atisfying a portion of the City’s regional housing need for market-rate and affordable housing units through infill development that will serve a range of household types and income levels.” The proposed project would also expand “workforce housing opportunities by developing high-quality rental housing near major employment centers in order to retain existing and attract new workers and families to the City.”

The project site is within one mile of the former Sleep Train Arena site, where a major hospital complex is planned.

This story was originally published September 15, 2022 at 5:00 AM.