BUENA PARK, CA –The Buena Park City Council has unanimously approved a new affordable housing community that will be developed on the site of a long-vacant commercial building. Located at 8850 La Palma Avenue, the project is designed for 70 apartment homes that will be affordable to residents earning between 30 to 60 percent of the county’s area median income (AMI).
To be built by Jamboree Housing Corporation, one of California’s leading developers and managers of affordable housing, the new community includes a unique design that utilizes a green roof over the interior parking area, creating more than 20,000 square feet of open space for the residents. The apartments will consist of one-, two- and three-bedroom floorplans ranging from approximately 616 to 1,192 square feet and will be marketed primarily to the city’s working families. Construction is expected to start next year with the community completed in 2012.
The new community will be developed on a two-acre urban infill site owned by the City of Buena Park Redevelopment Agency. The fenced site, which has been vacant for more than five years, required a General Plan Amendment and rezoning from commercial to residential, which the City Council also approved.
“This new affordable community is the result of a very active and productive public/private partnership led by the Buena Park Redevelopment Agency and supported by the city staff and City Council,” says Laura Archuleta, Jamboree president. “It will provide quality, affordable housing for the city’s working families and also for residents who require special needs services. We salute the City of Buena Park for its dedication to affordable housing and its vision in approving this new community.”
The four-story apartment community features contemporary urban design and the sustainable green roof over a 142-space surface parking area that will provide residents with open space for recreation and other outdoor activities. Planted with grass and other landscaping, the distinctive green roof will extend over most of the parking area and will help reduce the “heat island” effect that would otherwise be created by the surface parking facility. The green roof also assists in the filtration of pollutants and reduces storm water run-off. This sustainable element is consistent with Jamboree’s high quality housing that promotes healthy living – one of four consistent outcomes its highlighting throughout 2010 in this its 20th year of operation, adds Archuleta.
“Although the specific design needs are to be determined, the green roof could be an open space meadow with a variety of native plantings and even decorative hardscape for barbecues, picnic tables and social gatherings,” says Michael Massie, Jamboree’s housing development manager. “It will provide the residents with outdoor opportunities that would not otherwise have been possible in a tightly constrained urban area. It also helps improve the environment by reducing and filtering storm water runoff and by cutting down on greenhouse gas from the site.”
The new community will also feature such amenities as a residents meeting room, fitness center, tutoring center, kitchen and laundry facilities. Additionally, residents will benefit from Jamboree’s resident services group, Housing with HEART, that provides innovative, onsite resident services such as after-school tutoring, computer classes and health and fitness programs at little or no cost to the residents.
Perspective Renderings Available Upon Request
About Jamboree: Celebrating 20 years, Irvine, CA-headquartered Jamboree Housing Corporation is an award- winning, broad-based, nonprofit housing development company that develops, acquires, renovates and manages permanently affordable rental and ownership housing for lower-income families, seniors and those with special needs throughout California. Housing with HEART (Helping Educate, Activate and Respond
Together) is a 501(c)(3) organization and Jamboree’s resident services group. A year-long commemoration of Jamboree’s 20th elevates the ripple effect of providing high quality affordable housing that generates more jobs, creates supportive housing for seniors and those with special needs, promotes healthy living and builds stronger communities.
A leading nonprofit developer, Jamboree currently has about $250 million in affordable housing projects in its development pipeline. Its $1 billion asset portfolio includes the development of and/or ownership interest in more than 6,000 homes in more than 56 California communities. Currently, Housing with HEART programs and services are offered at 38 Jamboree communities with designated staff at each location. For more information, go to www.jamboreehousing.com.