RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CA-LINC Housing Corp. of Long Beach has unveiled its $43 million Pepperwood Apartments complex, a 230-unit property at 9055 Foothill Blvd. that the company has retrofitted for improved for energy efficiency while completing a host of other upgrades. LINC, which is a nonprofit developer of affordable housing for families and seniors throughout California, worked with the city of Rancho Cucamonga to buy the Pepperwood complex in 2006.

Through the acquisition, LINC made previously market-rate apartments affordable to limited-income residents who were at risk of being priced out of their neighborhoods during the city's new wave of prosperity. The complex features units ranging from studios to two-bedroom apartments that range from 487 sf to 975 sf, all of them set aside for families earning from 35% to 60% of the area median income for San Bernardino County, or about $321 to $732 per month depending on household income.

The renovations include new paint, insulation, electrical and plumbing systems, energy-efficient water heaters, new heating and cooling systems, new appliances, double-paned windows, doors and weather stripping, CFL lighting, low-flow toilets and hard-wired smoke detectors. The renovation also included the addition of an all-new computer lab for residents.

Hunter L. Johnson, LINC Housing president and CEO, notes that LINC's acquisition and renovation of the Pepperwood complex were a response to growth in Rancho Cucamonga, which has caused property values and rents to rise rapidly. "Rents in the city have increased more than 32% since 2001, forcing people out of the area," Johnson observes.

Funding for the Pepperwood acquisition and renovation came from a number of sources including Century Housing, Citibank, tax exempt bonds with Housing Partnership Securities, tax credit equity from Enterprise Community Investments, and a loan from the Rancho Cucamonga Redevelopment Agency. In addition to renovating he complex, LINC has instituted its LINC Cares resident services program at Pepperwood.

Through the LINC services program, the company has conducted a series of credit management workshops to teach residents about credit, finance, banking and how to protect themselves from identity theft. Upcoming resident services programs include a first-time homebuyer program, health care programs, tutoring program for the property's children and homelessness prevention workshops.