Roseland sets low-income unit construction

A long-planned 79-unit low-income unit housing complex in Roseland is expected to break ground in August after the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors this week approved a much-needed $300,000 investment, the final installment needed to start construction.

“This project is a poster child for how long it can take to build affordable housing in this county,” said Pascal Sisich, director of housing for Burbank Housing Development Corp., which is spearheading the project on Burbank Avenue near Hearn Avenue in Santa Rosa. “This is really great. We had a small gap remaining in our financing, so this will in fact allow us to finally break ground.”

The project, known as the Crossroads, was initiated in 2003. Sisich said he expects the multifamily housing complex to be ready for leasing by the end of 2017. Rents will range from $417 per month for a one-bedroom, to $1,217 per month for a three-bedroom. The average rent will be $621 per month, Sisich said. The units will be awarded to low-income people through a lottery system.

Total cost to build the complex is pegged at $22.1 million from state and federal sources, according to Sisich.

Funding for the Crossroads project is part of $3.2 million in new spending approved by supervisors Tuesday. The money, from a mix of local and federal sources, funds a wide range of homelessness and housing-assistance projects over the next year.

“It does alleviate some of the pressures that we have in our communities,” said Supervisor Efren Carrillo, the board chairman. “This supports those in our community and will hopefully help get them back on their feet and into housing.”

New spending covers homeless shelters and housing assistance programs across the county, including in Santa Rosa and Petaluma. Catholic Charities received $211,000 to run Sam Jones Hall in Santa Rosa, as well as its homelessness prevention and housing programs. County housing officials also were given $203,000 to assist low-income people with temporary rental assistance, and the Committee on the Shelterless in Petaluma, or COTS, received $222,000 for its homeless and housing-assistance programs. The COTS funding helped stem closure of the Mary Isaak Center in Petaluma, said Mike Johnson, chief executive officer for COTS.

Supervisor David Rabbitt characterized the new spending for the Mary Isaak Center as critical, saying it helped avert the homeless center’s closure.

Other funding covers other homelessness and housing programs in Sonoma and Guerneville, as well as safety and Americans with Disabilities Act upgrades at county parks and other county-owned facilities.

You can reach Staff Writer Angela ?Hart at 526-8503 or angela.hart@press?democrat.com. On Twitter @ahartreports.