After seven long years in development, Sacramento Mutual Housing Association broke ground last month on its latest development, Mutual Housing at The Highlands, which will house, when completed in mid-2011, the chronically homeless.

On the project team are Sunseri Construction of Chico, the general contractor; Cunningham Engineering in Davis; and Sacramento-based Cynthia Easton Architects.

Mutual Housing at The Highlands is located on a 3.5-acre parcel in the McClellan Redevelopment Area in North Highlands. The apartment community will have a total of 90 apartments, including 66 with supportive services that will be reserved for persons who are currently homeless. 

The breakdown of the 90 units is:

The two-story townhomes, each with three bedrooms, three bathrooms and approximately 1,700 sq ft, with an inviting entrance directly off the sidewalk and a two-car garage in the back. Affordable rent will be about $800.

The residential community also includes a community building with large all-purpose meeting room with adjacent kitchen, conference room, and computer lab in addition to laundry rooms, offices for support staff and reception area. 

The brick-and-mortar construction cost of The Highlands will be $13.1 million with $6.5 million in development costs.
The project is being funded partially through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, as a local project selected by the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee. Wells Fargo Bank is the construction lender.

Capital funding is also being provided by the Mental Health Services Act Housing Program administered by the California Housing Finance Agency and the California State Department of Housing and Community Development. Operating support is being provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency, and the Mental Health Services Act Housing Program.