State Retirement System to Fund 105-Unit Development

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System said Wednesday that it will provide construction financing for seven new housing projects in the state, including a 105-unit single-family development in southern Orange County.

The state retirement system, CALPERS, has been investing in housing projects since 1992 and to date has backed 113 projects.

The Orange County development will be at the northern end of Rancho Santa Margarita and will feature homes with base prices from $159,000 to $177,000. The first units are scheduled to open in January. San Juan Group, the home building and land development arm of Santa Margarita Co., will do the construction, which should take about 18 months to complete. The state retirement system has committed a total of $450 million to the California housing program, investing its funds and profits from completed projects through financial partners like San Francisco-based Institutional Housing Partners, which is handling funding of the Orange County project.

Matt Osgood, president of San Juan Group, said the CALPERS investment in the Rancho Santa Margarita project should total about $12 million. The retirement system began financing housing construction as part of a strategy of making investments that help create jobs in California as well as profits for the retirement fund.