THOUSAND OAKS : Low-Cost Housing Project Gets Boost

Intensifying Thousand Oaks’ efforts to encourage development in a poor neighborhood, the City Council on Tuesday unanimously voted to offer more financial help to a developer building an affordable housing project next to the Auto Mall, just off the Ventura Freeway.

To help Amcal Diversified Corp. finish its 91-unit condominium on time and with adequate resources, the council promised the developer $4,000 in redevelopment agency funds for every unit sold to low-income households. The money will be earmarked to pay utility fees in units sold for less than $130,000.

In addition, the council reaffirmed its commitment to help first-time home buyers purchase the condominiums by offering them low-interest loans on down payments. Thousand Oaks will allocate $600,000 in redevelopment funds to the down payment assistance program in 1993-94.

The condominium complex, known as the Groves, is the centerpiece of a model neighborhood program that the city started six years ago to revive a blighted area between Thousand Oaks Boulevard and the freeway.

The city has already granted Amcal an array of incentives, including some fee reductions. But a sagging regional economy has slowed sales, and Amcal’s president, Percy Vaz, requested more help from the city in a January letter to Mayor Judy Lazar and Councilman Frank Schillo.