The City of Signal Hill has chosen a nonprofit developer to create two workforce housing developments on Walnut Avenue and Orange Street.
In April, the City said it had identified $10 million in funding to help create the Walnut Bluff and Orange Bluff workforce housing developments, with the goal of increasing the amount of affordable housing in Signal Hill.
According to the California Statewide Communities Development Authority, workforce housing is for individuals and households that earn between 60% and 120% of the Area Median Income ($51,684 to $103,368 for Signal Hill). Sometimes it is also known as middle-income or moderate-income housing.
The City has estimated that the total amount a developer will spend to create both housing developments is $160 million.
The Orange Bluff workforce housing development will have 290 units across 8.6 acres, while the Walnut Bluff project will have 90 units across 2 acres.
On Tuesday, the City Council voted to partner with the nonprofit developer National Community Renaissance (National CORE) to create the two workforce housing locations. In addition to building housing, National CORE has also proposed building a 5,000-square-foot Boys & Girls Club location at the Orange Bluff site to provide social services.
“We really see this as an opportunity to create a texture of a neighborhood,” said Gregory Bradbard, president of the Hope through Housing Foundation, a group affiliated with National CORE that will be working with the Boys & Girls Club. “So it’s not a development here, a development there, but it’s a series of building opportunities to introduce new kinds of amenities and architecture and attention for a neighborhood.”
The City Council directed City staff to negotiate with National CORE over the next few months to create an agreement for the development project. City staff will return to the City Council with the agreement for final approval.
