Community leaders gathered in Marysville on Wednesday for a ribbon cutting ceremony at the newly constructed affordable housing complex East Lake Apartments.
Located at 1315 Yuba St., the new 71-unit apartment complex is on a block previously occupied by the California Department of Transportation Sign Shop between 13th and 14th streets. According to officials, the complex includes a clubhouse, covered and open parking, four separate residential buildings, and a community room. Apartments are configured in three-story walk-up buildings and include 24 one-bedroom units, 24 two-bedroom units and 23 three-bedroom units.
As of July 31, every unit is occupied, District Supervisor for Buckingham Property Management Tianna Carter said.
“On behalf of the city of Marysville, I’d like to welcome the 71 families. It’s such an amazing thing that we can help another portion of our community,” Vice Mayor Bruce Buttacavoli said.
This affordable housing project was initially presented to the Marysville City Council and the Marysville Planning and Historic Preservation Commission in 2021.
The city council approved the project on March 2, 2021, in a 3-2 vote with Mayor Chris Branscum and Councilmember Dom Belza voting no. Belza told the Appeal on Wednesday that his initial vote against the project was largely due to the relationship between the state and local governments when implementing affordable housing projects.
According to Appeal archives, developers sought a property tax exemption due to the project’s nature as an affordable housing development. Without the tax exemption, the site would generate $150,000 in property taxes of which Marysville would get approximately $25,500.
However, because a tax exemption was put in place, the city received an estimated one-time fee of around $275,000, but no property tax revenue.
The tax exempt status of the project is what led Branscum to vote no, the Appeal previously reported.
“I think affordable housing is great for our community. The state mandates that cities offer affordable housing for its citizens, but it takes the burden and places it on local governments who then suffer from the lack of tax revenue,” Belza said. “We suffer the deficiency at a local level and the state doesn’t have to harbor that burden.”
However, since that initial vote, East Lake Apartments and other recent housing announcements and related unanimous approvals by the council have led to a sense of resurgence for Marysville.
“This brings 71 units to Marysville, and this is the most beautiful thing,” Councilmember Stuart Gilchrist said. “Architecturally, this entire complex was designed years ago as a market rate apartment complex. The plans were set aside and used. Our planning commission, when this came before the board to be approved as tax deferred construction dollars, the only change that was made was the color pallet.”
Street and sidewalk improvements were also made alongside the housing development, Gilchrist said.
“This is a huge improvement compared to what was here 40 years ago, which was a vacant lot,” Councilmember Brad Hudson said. “71 units is a great thing for the city of Marysville with affordable housing. That’s what we need to focus on, affordable housing in our city limits. I look forward to other projects in my tenure here.”