With buzzwords like “affordable housing” and “hiring local,” a plan to build 900 new apartment dwelling units, a hotel, and some retail locations near the UC Merced campus was met with initial approval from the Merced City Council this week.
The proposed mixed-use development, known as UC Villages, is located on 35.6 acres along the west side of Lake Road, south of Bellevue Road. It’s land owned by the local Lakireddy family.
This was the sixth “pre-annexation application” that has been trotted out in front of the council by city staff in recent months. Merced is taking the first steps of annexing the UC Merced campus into the city limits. When that finally happens, the city and private investors can follow suit with investment property adjacent to the university. The pre-annexation review process allows leaders to weigh in on projects from the very start, and it gives developers a glimpse of first reactions at City Hall.
Monday’s Council vote was unanimous, but it only stands as an indication of “general support” for the project. Nevertheless, it was a clear contrast to a Council vote a few weeks ago that left a similar pre-annexation application without the general support tag. The Branford Point project on land owned by Greg Opinski received a split 3-3 vote, with Council members Fernando Echevarria, Bertha Perez and Jesse Ornelas voting “No.” Echevarria told Opinski he wanted to see more immediate affordable housing highlighted in the plans, and Perez wanted some kind of firm indication a significant percentage of local workers would be hired. Opinski told the Times he will continue to work with the city on his project.
The Lakireddy presentation stated that 12.5 percent of the apartment units would be designated affordable housing spread across all income levels, and that local contractors and workers will build and operate the project.
Housing advocates have been calling for the city leaders to implement an affordable housing component for every new development that comes to the city in order to lift up struggling residents.
UC Villages appears to be geared toward UC students, faculty and campus workers who in recent times have struggled to find available apartments and homes to rent.
The project also includes retail space, and a 161-room, five-story hotel.