IRVINE, CA-Jamboree Housing Corp. today is holding the grand opening of the second phase of Doria Apartment Homes in Stonegate Village here, a group of 74 apartment homes designed for families who earn 30% to 60% of area median income. Doria is the first rental property to be developed and completed by Jamboree in joint venture with the Irvine Community Land Trust.

"Irvine has a very diverse population that represents multiple socio-economic and cultural groups. This requires a diversity of housing that needs to grow as the city grows," Laura Archuleta, president of Jamboree, tells GlobeSt.com. "Stonegate is one of Irvine's newest communities, so this is where the City of Irvine and the Irvine Community Land Trust want to ensure, at this point in the city's planning, that a spectrum of housing, including workforce housing such as Doria, is available to its residents."

Archuleta adds that to help meet this housing need, "Jamboree greatly values its partnership with the City of Irvine and market-rate developers likethe Irvine Co., the master developer of Stonegate, who want to fulfill the affordable housing requirements in a way that promotes healthy communities and seamlessly integrates into the surrounding neighborhoods. "

The first phase of Doria has 60 apartments and was completed in late 2011. Doria features three-story, garden-style buildings designed around a central courtyard. Its Spanish Colonial-inspired architecture is meant to integrate seamlessly with the aesthetic fabric of the surrounding Stonegate community.

"The last six months were notable for Jamboree, especially here in Orange County," says Archuleta. "In addition to Doria, we completed two other projects in Orange County that had a huge impact on workforce-housing production." Those two projects are Park Landing Apartment Homes in Buena Park and Birch Hills Apartment Homes in Brea. Along with Doria Phase II, the two projects add 259 apartment units to Orange County's affordable-housing inventory.

The Irvine Community Land Trust is the only land trust established by a cooperative municipality in Southern California. Together, the two Doria phases include 20 apartment homes for residents with special needs, with funding provided by the Mental Health Services Act administered by the County of Orange.

Ray Brewer, field office director for HUD, further underscores the national need for affordable housing. "More than 12 million homeowners in the US spend more than 50% of their income for housing alone. Individually, each of us makes a small difference. But Doria is a great example of how all of us together can make a really big difference for families in need of housing they can afford."

Jamboree's development of Doria is an example of creative financing to fund workforce housing in the post-redevelopment environment. Archuleta points out that a variety of funding sources were tapped to complete Doria.

Stonegate Village is part of the Villages of Irvine, which, as GlobeSt.com reported last week, has been named top-selling master-planned community in the western US by the Robert Charles Lesher Co. for the second year in a row. The community, built by the Irvine Co.'s Community Development Co., sold 1,444 new homes in 2013. Company executives at RCLCO credit strong demand for new homes in Irvine for the high sales volume, adding that master-planned communities are performing at their strongest sales pace in five years and offer buyers a quality housing product and lifestyle in which they want to invest.