IRVINE : Affordable-Housing Bond Sale Approved

The City Council voted Tuesday to approve the sale of $28 million in tax-free bonds to help finance one of the largest affordable apartment complexes in the county.

The state bonds, which will be sold next week, will help finance construction of the $42-million San Rafael Apartments. Construction of the 382 apartments, which will be across the street from City Hall, is scheduled to begin next month.

The tax-free nature of the bonds will allow the developers to pay a lower interest rate on a construction loan.

The complex is being jointly built by the Irvine Co. and the nonprofit Bridge Housing Corp. It will offer 134 apartments to families earning half of the county’s median income or less, and another 20 apartments for families earning up to 80% of the median. The current annual median income for a family of four in Orange County is $52,200.

The bonds, approved by the state’s debt-limit committee last month, are being backed by the Irvine Co. and will be repaid by rent from apartment tenants. Council approval was necessary because the city will handle the sale of the bonds, but city taxpayers will not be responsible for repaying the debt, officials said.

Construction of the San Rafael Apartments was delayed from last year because the Irvine Co. had difficulty getting a bank to finance the project. The apartments will be on a 15-acre site at the corner of San Leon and Harvard Avenue, just east of City Hall.

The affordable apartments are being built to satisfy the Irvine Co.’s obligation to provide low-cost housing in exchange for permission granted in 1990 to build 925 more homes than originally approved in the Westpark community.

The apartments will almost double the number of affordable units available in Westpark, said Rick Lamprecht, vice president of apartment development for the Irvine Co.’s apartment division.