CORONA, CA – The new 85-unit Meridian Apartments workforce housing property currently under construction by C&C Development and Orange Housing Development in partnership with the City of Corona and Corona Housing Authority plays an important role in fulfilling the City’s housing production of affordable housing as detailed in its 2013-2021 Housing Element. The Housing Element is part of the Corona General Plan and establishes the City’s strategy to preserve and enhance the community’s residential character, expand housing opportunities for all economic segments, and provide guidance and direction for the City government’s decision-making in all matters related to housing.
In addition to the Meridian Apartments, C&C Development and Orange Housing in joint venture with the City previously built Citrus Circle adjacent to the Corona Civic Center that encompasses 61 family apartments for a total of 146 affordable housing units developed by the partnership in the past four years.
CORONA’S HOUSING STRATEGY
In keeping with the City’s affordable housing strategy, Meridian
Apartments
and Citrus Circle are both urban infill projects and as such are key elements of the City’s goal to maximize land use opportunities for affordable developments as defined in its 2013-2021 Housing Element.
To this end, one of the Housing Element’s objectives is to demonstrate the availability of buildable sites for affordable residential development. These sites are the result of property acquisition efforts stemming from the post- and pre-dissolution of local redevelopment agencies.
The dissolution gave the Corona Housing Authority the opportunity to assemble several lots so that the
scarcity of land within the City boundary does not unduly increase the cost or decrease the availability of housing opportunities for all segments of the community with an emphasis on lower- and moderate-income households.
In advancing this mission, the City also offers substantive development support for public and private sector non-profit and for-profit organizations such as C&C and Orange Housing in their efforts to construct, acquire, and improve housing and provide access to more affordable housing. As part of this support, the City actively engages with affordable housing developers regarding the siting of affordable housing and ensuring that the entitlement process runs smoothly from inception to completion.
The goal, according to Mayor Jason Scott, is for the City to promote and maintain a balance of housing types and corresponding affordability levels to address the need for housing within all economic segments.
“One of our City’s key housing goals is to accommodate our economic and population growth by providing a diversity of quality housing for workers and their families. The Meridian Apartments and the Citrus Circle property are important additions to our workforce housing inventory,”
he explains.
“It’s an added benefit that these new Meridian Apartments are strategically located within our downtown and thus close to shopping and employment opportunities as well as transportation, public facilities and community services. Residents can more easily walk or use public transit instead of driving.”
Located at 1040 E. Sixth Street, the Meridian Apartments community is within one quarter mile of a Riverside County Rapid Transit stop, and City Park is directly across the street. The property is less than one mile from the Corona Public Library and three miles from the Corona Regional Medical Center, about a mile from Centennial High School, and is near a variety of retail outlets.
HOUSING FOR GROWING FAMILIES
Developed on a four-acre site in the City’s downtown area, the Meridian Apartments community encompasses seven two- and three-story apartment buildings as well as many life-enhancing features. Spaciously designed for growing families, the one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments range in size from approximately 768 to more than 1,100 square feet with rents that are affordable to households earning 30 percent to 60 percent of the
Area Median Income (AMI).
“In many ways, the Meridian Apartments community is the perfect workforce housing development,”
said Todd Cottle, principal of C&C.
“It’s a true public/private partnership with the City of Corona that offers a great new place for working families to live comfortably and raise their children. As an urban-infill project, it will also contribute to the City's revitalization program along Sixth Street and is within walking distance of a public park, transportation, community services, and retail and employment centers.”
The Meridian Apartments community includes a pool and outdoor terrace, residents’ meeting room and social services center, as well as tot lot, barbecue pavilion, and open space for recreation and socializing. Other features are an on-site laundry, multi-purpose facility room with a kitchen and computer room, and 147 on-site parking spaces served by an attractive round-about entry.
Social services for residents will include after-school programs provided by the Corona-Norco Family YMCA, a non-profit community-based organization that operates a host of programs for children, families and the community.
