Two proposed apartment complexes could bring 424 units to southeast Santa Rosa

Santa Rosa planning officials are reviewing two housing projects that would bring a total of 424 apartments to the southeast side of the city, just south of the Santa Rosa Marketplace shopping center.

The projects, less than a block from each other, would further city efforts to build more housing along or near Santa Rosa Avenue, a key transit and commercial corridor.

One of the projects calls for 252 multifamily apartment units on more than 8 acres at 325 Yolanda Ave., just south of the Carriage Court mobile home park. The complex would consist of 11 three-story buildings and four two-story buildings, and would include an 8,000-square-foot clubhouse with a leasing office, fitness center, pool and spa.

That project, named Yolanda Apartments, is located within one of the city's Priority Development Areas, defined by the Bay Area's Metropolitan Transportation Commission as areas for future infill population and employment growth near transportation services.

“It provides a lot of housing near public transit,” said Susie Murray, a Santa Rosa senior planner.

According to public review documents, the complex would offer 18 studio, 115 one-bedroom, 98 two-bedroom and 21 three-bedroom apartments. A total of 69 apartments would have “tuck under” garages.

Murray said an In-N-Out Burger joint may be built just west of the proposed apartment complex, on Santa Rosa Avenue, but no application has yet been submitted. Rents at Yolanda Apartments would be market rate, she said.

The developer, the Wolf Company, could not be reached for comment last week.

Murray said the city won't require the developer to include affordable housing units. However, the developer would have to pay an “in lieu fee” if it chose not to include them.

Murray said the developer doesn't have to say what course it plans to take until it gets to the building permit process. A public hearing is scheduled Tuesday, in the large conference room of the Old Chamber building, 637 First St.

The other project, the second phase of the 38 Degrees North development, is less than a block east of Yolanda Apartments. It calls for 172 luxury apartments in eight three-story buildings on a nearly 11-acre site at 2660 Petaluma Hill Blvd.

The complex would provide 80 one-bedroom, 82 two-bedroom, and 10 three-bedroom apartments, according to neighborhood and concept design review documents. It would consist of five three-story buildings with 20 apartments each and tuck-under garages and surface parking, as well as three three-story buildings with 24 units each and surface parking.

The project would be just south of 38 Degrees' first phase, currently under construction, and would be bounded on the south by the future Farmer's Lane extension and on the east by Franz Kafka Avenue.

Kennedy Wilson, a Los Angeles-based real estate investment firm, is building both phases of 38 Degrees North.

City Planner Andrew Trippel said the developer has included affordable apartment units in the first phase of the project and has been encouraged to do the same for the second phase.

However, Trippel said the inclusion of affordable units is not required under the city's Housing Allocation Plan, which urges developers of projects of 70 or more units to include affordable units. Developers are required to pay an in-lieu fee, which is then used to construct affordable housing.

A public hearing on the 38 Degrees North Phase 2 project will be held July 17, in the large conference room of the Old Chamber building.

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @reno.