LIVERMORE, CA—As the first large-scale multifamily development in about a quarter of a century, Ageno Apartments, a 171-unit mixed-income transit-oriented development, is underway. This marks the final construction phase in the master-planned Vineyard Crossing, a 34.5-acre community of 465 single-family homes, townhomes and apartments originally entitled by SummerHill Homes and built by KB Homes. The developer is JEMCOR Development Partners, which specializes in market-rate, affordable and mixed-income housing.

JEMCOR purchased the 5-acre site located at South Vasco Road and Brisa Street from SummerHill Homes in September 2016 and took on the responsibility of satisfying the inclusionary housing requirement for the community by incorporating affordable units within the development. While plans originally called for 85% of those units to be market rate and the remaining 15% to be affordable units, JEMCOR opted to increase the total number of affordable units to 20%.

This enabled specialized financing that includes low-income housing tax credit equity, tax-exempt bond proceeds and a first-of-its-kind construction-to-permanent loan from Citi Community Capital completed in conjunction with Freddie Mac's newly launched LIHTC enhancement program. The deal will result in 35 apartments that are permanently affordable to very low-income families earning up to 50% of Alameda County's area median income (about $52,150 for a family of four).

“It's getting harder and harder to make apartment developments pencil in today's marketplace given higher land and construction costs, and the difficulty of obtaining approvals,” Jonathan Emami, JEMCOR president, tells GlobeSt.com. “We try to think outside of the box and look at every potential deal with two or three different financing executions i.e. market rate, affordable, mixed income, so we know that we have explored all options before landing on a viable solution.”

Located adjacent to the Altamont Corridor Express/ACE Vasco Road commuter rail station, Ageno Apartments residents will have quick access to weekday trains serving Silicon Valley with stops in Pleasanton, Fremont, Santa Clara and San Jose. In addition, residents will have access to buses with direct service to the Dublin BART station. The Ageno property is less than 3 miles from two world-renown research and development facilities, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the California campus of Sandia National Laboratories.

Designed by KTGY Architecture + Planning, the development will consist of four, three-story residential buildings and a single-story clubhouse. The project will incorporate a number of green features such as solar photovoltaic systems covering the energy usage in common areas and drought-tolerant landscaping to help ensure long-term energy efficiency and sustainability. The one-, two- and three-bedroom units will have Energy Star appliances, energy-efficient lighting, low-flow faucets and toilets, walk-in closets and storage closets. Residents will have access to services and amenities including parcel lockers and delivery service, a fitness center, swimming pool, spa, green space and outdoor barbecue areas as well as connections to two neighborhood parks and pedestrian paths. The development, which is located less than a mile from Interstate 580, will have 282 covered parking spaces. FPI Management will provide leasing and property management services.

“Ageno Apartments will be Livermore's first large-scale newly built apartment community in nearly 25 years,” said Emami. “We're very happy that it will also help provide critically needed rent relief for very low-income families and individuals in the San Francisco Bay Area, where housing costs continue to rank among the highest in the nation.”

JEMCOR recently completed Cedar Flats, a 137-bed purpose-built student housing project in Chico, CA, adjacent to the California State University-Chico campus. It was the first student housing project for JEMCOR and is managed by Asset Campus Housing. Amenities include WiFi, a full gym, lounge with pool table, multiple TVs, seating and study area, an outdoor barbecue and spa area. Cedar Flats also offers indoor bike storage and a direct connection to a bike path that travels to campus and downtown, GlobeSt.com learns.

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