11.5-acre parcel – close to Loomis, Roseville and Rocklin – has already been identified for low-income housing and zoned for multifamily development
USA Properties Fund and Housing Trust Placer Inc. are partnering on Hope Way Apartments, a proposed affordable community in Penryn that would bring much-needed housing for lower-income residents in south Placer County.
The 240-apartment community – located at the southwest corner of Penryn Road and Hope Way, near the offramp of Interstate 80 (see map) – would allow many hardworking residents, from early-in-their career teachers and retail and service professionals to seniors on fixed incomes, to live in the south Placer County region.
Hope Way would also help area businesses by providing additional customers, potential employees and housing for existing employees. Some businesses in the area face an ongoing challenge of finding skilled workers, and many workers have to commute from Sacramento County and the Highway 49 corridor.
The apartment community – on an 11.5-acre parcel already zoned for multifamily housing – is close to Loomis, Newcastle, Granite Bay, Roseville, Auburn and Rocklin, with easy access to a full-service grocery store and pharmacy, shops, restaurants and numerous other small businesses.
Hope Way Apartments
“As Placer County continues to grow, there is an incredible demand and critical shortage of housing, especially affordable housing that helps lower-income residents to live close to where they work,” said former Placer County Supervisor Jim Holmes, who represented the district. “Our local economy and many businesses depend on finding hardworking, skilled employees who need affordable housing. Hope Way Apartments provides much-needed affordable housing and helps ensure that the county’s economy and businesses can continue to expand and thrive.”
Thousands of good-paying job opportunities, health providers and major hospitals — including Sutter Health and Kaiser Permanente — large shopping centers and public schools such as Sierra College are just a few miles away in Roseville and Rocklin.
“The need for affordable housing is so great, especially in the unincorporated areas,” said Robyn van Ekelenburg, CEO of Housing Trust Placer. “We’re trying to house our residents and workforce.”
Why Penryn?
Penryn is an integral part of western Placer County, with residents relying on businesses and services throughout the region, including for employment, shopping, entertainment, education, recreation and religious needs.
Housing Trust Placer is a nonprofit started in 2020, with a 44-home development for low-income renters underway just west of Roseville. USA Properties Fund, one of the largest affordable developer-manager-owners in the West, has about 35 apartment communities in the Sacramento region, including several in Placer County.
“Placer County needs more affordable housing and it’s in our backyard,” said Milo Terzich, Vice President of Development and Entitlements for USA Properties Fund in Roseville. “It’s important that we build more affordable housing for our community and residents.”
One of only a few sites identified for affordable housing in Placer County
Placer County has already identified the property as a potential site for affordable housing for the unincorporated area of the region. (Cities, such as Roseville and Rocklin, must also identify properties for future affordable housing.)
The County – one of the fastest-growing regions in the state – has a critical shortage of affordable housing and needs at least 1,200 more units to comply with state requirements. Some housing experts say the County needs many more affordable units to meet the housing needs of low-income residents.
The California Housing Partnership estimates the county, including cities like Auburn and Lincoln, needs at least 8,000 affordable apartments to meet the demand of low-income households, especially for extremely low-income residents – those earning 30% of the area median income.
High-priced housing has a far-reaching financial impact on low-income residents, affecting everything from their ability to pay for many basic needs – like food and transportation – to saving money for emergencies, such as health care and vehicle repairs. More than two of every three extremely low-income residents spend at least half of their income on rent, creating a serious financial hardship.
Key points on the project:
- Placer County has already identified the parcel for future affordable housing
- The property is zoned for multifamily housing – with a minimum of 20 apartments per acre (or 220 apartments overall)
- The location is one of the closest in the county to Roseville and Rocklin, the largest employment center and the major retail and services hub in the region
- Hope Way Apartments would house about 750 residents, less than figures opponents of the project have used
Hope Way Apartments would provide affordable housing for residents earning 30% to 70% of the area median income — about $31,000 to $72,000 for a two-person household and $38,600 to as much as $90,000 for a four-person family – and help the county come closer to meeting the state mandate.
Hope Way Apartments will provide affordable housing for the community’s health care employees, teachers and retail workers – hardworking people with good jobs but unable to buy a home and struggle to pay rent for market-rate apartments.
Hope Way would ‘open the door to more opportunities’ for residents
Over the last five years, Placer County, Housing Trust Placer and USA Properties Fund investigated hundreds of potential sites for developing affordable housing. Of all the potential sites, Hope Way was the best location because it offered the features and amenities that will make the project a success and also help the development qualify for financing.
Hope Way also was one of few potential sites that was already zoned for multifamily development and available for sale.
The apartment community would offer one- to four-bedroom homes, meeting the housing needs of many residents, from empty-nest retirees living on a fixed income to young families saving to buy a home.
Hope Way Apartments would provide housing to an estimated 750 people – or about three residents per unit. While the apartment community would increase the population of Penryn, the figure is much less than the figure that opponents of the project have used during recent meetings and with media.
“We are committed to building affordable, quality, safe housing – and open the door to more opportunities for residents,” said van Ekelenburg. “We want to bridge that gap and help residents build a better and more stable financial future.”