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A rendering of Greenbrier Village Apartments, a housing project for homeless and low-income residents in Oceanside. Courtesy rendering
A rendering of Greenbrier Village Apartments, a housing project for homeless and extremely low-income residents in Oceanside. Courtesy rendering
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Oceanside directs $3.5M to homeless apartment project

OCEANSIDE — The city has committed $3.5 million in residual receipt loans toward the construction of a 60-unit housing project that will provide homes for homeless and extremely low-income residents at risk of homelessness.

Once completed, Greenbrier Village Apartments will provide 59 units for residency while the remaining unit will be left for management. The project will be located at 563 Greenbrier Drive on the west side of the street between Apple Street and Oceanside Boulevard and will remain as affordable housing for at least 55 years.

“This property has easy connections to nearby shopping and eateries, bus and sprinter lines, and is adjacent to a major transportation corridor,” said Neighborhood Services Director Leilani Hines at the Jan. 12 council meeting. “It will provide much-needed, permanent support housing for the most vulnerable in our community.”

According to FindLaw, the “residual receipts concept is the most common financing method used to facilitate a low or moderate income housing development.” Residual receipts are the amount remaining in the annual operating budget after calculating net operating income, or the amount by which gross revenue exceeds annual operating expenses.

Last year in March, the city sent out requests for proposals to provide housing for homeless individuals and affordable housing for extremely low-income households. The National Community Renaissance of California, or National CORE, and San Diego Community Housing Corporation responded to that request with Greenbrier Village.

Headquartered in Rancho Cucamonga, National CORE is a non-profit organization that owns 8,460 units across four states with 6,700 in Southern California. Oceanside has partnered with National CORE in the past to construct affordable housing projects like Mission Cove and La Mission apartments as well as the rehabilitation of Cape Cod Senior Villas.

San Diego Community Housing Corporation is a nonprofit public benefit corporation that is partnering with National CORE to co-develop the project.

The apartments — the majority of which are studios with a handful of single bedrooms — will be made available to those who are experiencing homelessness, who are at risk of homelessness and for households earning 30% or less than the area median income. For example, a single person earning $25,450 annually would qualify.

Though rent will be as low as $499 for the majority of residents, Hines noted that many will still be unable to pay that amount, which is why the city will have a voucher program for residents to stay there. Once a person moves in, wraparound services and case management will be provided to help residents stabilize.

The project is expected to cost around $25.7 million. National CORE, its developer, has committed to financing 42% of the project through low-income housing tax credits. The remaining amount will be paid by Section 8 revenue, state funding through San Diego No Place Like Home grants, and residual receipt loans from the city of Oceanside.

Back in June, the council approved a commitment of $3.5 million in city funding for the project, while the most recent action on Jan. 12 was to approve the source of that money.

Last year, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, awarded $2.2 million in HOME investment funds from the American Rescue Plan Act to the city, which is required to spend that money on an affordable housing project to serve those experiencing homelessness. Of that amount, $2 million will go toward the development and the remainder will be used for administrative needs.

Those funds along with an additional $1 million coming from city reserves and $476,357 from the city’s inclusionary housing in-lieu funds.

While the council unanimously approved of the $3.5 million to come from residual receipt loans, Councilmember Christopher Rodriguez took issue with the project’s use of several low-income housing tax credits through the state.

Rodriguez said the funding mechanism is not enough to incentivize more developers.

HUD’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program provides an incentive to construct or rehabilitate affordable rental housing for low-income households. Tax credits are issued to the states, and state housing agencies then award these credits to private developers of affordable housing.

Rodriguez also said the size of the project will only address a “fraction” of the city’s need for affordable housing.

“This is not even going to touch the need we have,” Rodriguez said. “Anybody outside of the city can apply — you can come from National City or from Borrego Springs… this doesn’t benefit Oceanside residents directly.”

National CORE will be responsible for advertising, verifying income levels and selecting residents to live in Greenbrier Village. Hines noted that the organization will be monitored by several agencies including the county and city to make sure they are complying with fair housing regulations.

Mayor Esther Sanchez didn’t share Rodriguez’s distaste for the project.

“I actually think it’s a great project,” Sanchez said.

Construction of Greenbrier Village is expected to start around December of this year with occupancy expected in late spring or summer 2024.