City committee moves 115-unit affordable apartment complex forward

The Palm Springs Architectural Review Committee voted unanimously Monday to approve construction of a 115-unit, 100% affordable apartment complex at the northwest corner of San Rafael Drive and McCarthy Road, attaching several design conditions to the project.

The Pacific Companies Inc. plans five buildings on the 4-acre site, including one-, two- and three-bedroom units, with four buildings fronting San Rafael Drive and McCarthy Road and a fifth serving as an amenities building with a leasing office, fitness center, pool, playground and dog park.

The buildings will stand two and three stories, with a maximum height of 30 feet under a state density bonus for affordable housing, and the site will include 178 parking spaces.

The Pacific Companies partner Darren Berberian told the committee the project’s financing is fragile and time-sensitive.

“Affordable housing is getting harder and harder and harder to finance,” Berberian said. He said the project secured state funding this year through a program known as MIP, for Mixed-Income Program, which he said guarantees the project funding in the next bond round.

“We have six months to pull building permits,” Berberian said. “If we don’t meet this deadline, the project is gone. We have to forfeit the financing, and it could take years before it gets funded again.”

While the developer has not yet finalized rent estimates, this affordable housing development is reserved for households earning between 30% to 80% of the Area Median Income. For our region, the overall median income is $106,500, meaning eligible annual income limits range from $25,850 up to $68,900 for a single person, or $36,900 up to $98,400 for a family of four.

Committee members spent much of the meeting weighing in on the building’s design, with Chair Lance O’Donnell conditioning approval on better solar control using window overhangs and shading in addition to dark window frames for aesthetics, some covered parking, and a finalized desert landscaping plan.

Another committee member urged the developer to carry design details from the amenities building into the apartment buildings. “The leasing building looks gorgeous, and I would just try to factor in as much of that look into the actual buildings,” the committee member said.

O’Donnell suggested the developer replace a planned stone veneer with a concrete block finish more typical of the city’s architecture. “It would make it feel more grounded in this community, because it’s known for beautiful block buildings, and you have one of the best examples at the Tramway Visitor Center just up the street.”

The Palm Springs Planning Commission approved a Major Development Permit for the project in January, granting density and height increases under the city’s affordable housing density bonus rules. Monday’s vote clears the way for the project to move toward the city’s building permit process.

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