GARDEN GROVE, CA – Jamboree Housing Corporation and the Garden Grove United Methodist Church – in partnership with the City of Garden Grove – today announced the grand opening of Wesley Village. This is a pioneering, multi-use urban campus that encompasses multigenerational affordable housing as well as educational, social and health services programming available to residents and the larger community.
A public/private venture, the adaptive reuse campus was developed on 2.2 acres of the church’s excess parking space and vacant land that, together, create the urban site for two three-story multifamily buildings that include 47 affordable apartments for 31 working families and 16 senior households with rents ranging from 50 percent to 60 percent of area median income (AMI). To secure the development site, Jamboree entered a 60-year ground lease with the church that will provide ongoing financial support for the church's charitable activities.
The redesigned church campus includes the addition of two three-story residential buildings. A third building within the campus houses an Orange County Head Start Learning Center. Local community service providers with offices inside the community rooms of the residential buildings include: Alzheimer's Orange County, Boys & Girls Clubs of Garden Grove, Lestonnac Free Clinic and Project Hope Alliance. These agencies will provide adult day care, behavioral health services and after-school activities, plus a range of other social, education and health services available to Wesley Village residents and the surrounding community. Jamboree’s Community Impact Group is serving as the catalyst and facilitator for this community collaboration.
“Garden Grove is excited to see the result of this very unique and creative community alliance. By combining the strengths and resources of three different entities that share a progressive vision for our city, we’ve achieved something especially meaningful and beneficial for our community,” said Garden Grove Mayor Steve Jones.
The Wesley Village campus features approximately 10,000 square feet of active open space, with almost one-half of that space provided on a podium deck courtyard that is part of the family apartment building. The campus amenities include a community center that houses management offices, a health clinic, computer center, library, and multipurpose rooms that are accessible to local community service providers.
Outdoor amenities feature barbecue/dining areas, a tot lot, fitness areas, and landscaped community spaces for outdoor recreation. Laundry facilities are in each residential building, and a combination of covered and uncovered parking spaces are available for residents and guests.
“One of the fundamental principles of the United Methodist Church is that we have a responsibility to innovate, sponsor and evaluable new forms of community that will encourage development of individuals and families to reach their fullest potential,” said Rev. Dr. Bau Dang. “In keeping with this principle, we see Wesley Village, which is named after the founder of the Methodist Church, John Wesley, as a way our church in concert with the City of Garden Grove and Jamboree is providing land for the creation of a new community that will strengthen the lives of people and promote their health and well-being. We are pleased to be part of this unique collaboration.”
Laura Archuleta, Jamboree president, said that developers of affordable housing today are faced with challenges of securing building sites and funding for affordable housing developments in Orange County and throughout California.
“This innovative collaboration with the Garden Grove United Methodist Church and the City of Garden Grove underscores the need for both more creative thinking and the value of public/private partnerships to meet the growing demand for quality affordable housing,” she said. “We believe Wesley Village will serve as a model for other developers and local governments to partner with institutions such as churches and schools to help fill the affordable housing gap.”
Archuleta pointed out that Wesley Village creates not only quality affordable housing for families and seniors, but is a platform to expand critically needed community services such as Head Start that will benefit the surrounding neighborhood and residents.
The multigenerational property also represents a major step in advancing Jamboree’s Community Impact Initiative to improve the overall health and well-being of a community, noted George Searcy, Jamboree Senior Vice President of Community Impact. “Our experience as an affordable housing developer with services for a variety of residents – ranging from working families to seniors – makes a significant difference to our residents by offering quality physical and mental health services, improvement in educational outcomes, improved social bonds, and a feeling of camaraderie and security within the community,” Searcy continued.
In Jamboree's ongoing commitment to sustainability, Wesley Village features ENERGY STAR appliances and water efficient plumbing in each apartment, low-VOC interior paint, CRI Green Label low-VOC carpeting and underlayment, and low-VOC adhesives. Interiors are heated by a highly efficient central boiler system, and the outdoor green belts feature water-conserving landscape irrigation systems.
With these and other sustainable features, Wesley Village is designed to achieve a LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) for Homes Gold rating and to exceed California’s Title 24 CalGreen energy efficiency standard by at least 17 percent. This certification lowers energy consumption, providing a cost-saving benefit to and promotes the health of residents. The LEED Green Building Rating System is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high-performance green buildings.
Financing for $18.9-million development consists of $3.6 million in HOME Funds provided by the City of Garden Grove through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and a Housing Authority Loan; $4.8 million in permanent financing from the California Community Reinvestment Corporation; $7.449 million tax credit equity invested by Boston Financial Investment Management; $460,000 in Affordable Housing Program (AHP) permanent financing from Federal Home Loan Bank, and $11.1 million in construction financing provided by U.S. Bank. Garden Grove United Methodist Church is the ground lessor.
