In a city where two-bedroom rents often crack the $2,000 mark without breaking a sweat, Oceanside officials just signed off on a move they hope will keep at least one big complex from drifting further out of reach.
The City Council this week approved a $105 million state loan to convert the 240-unit Sunterra apartments at 3851 Sherbourne Drive into mostly rent-restricted housing. The shift will roll out gradually as current tenants move out, with most units slated to become income-restricted while a smaller portion remains market-rate. Both the city and the property’s new operator say tenants will not be forced to relocate while the work happens.
What Sunterra Looks Like Now
Sunterra is a garden-style complex made up mostly of two-bedroom units that, according to listings, measure roughly 890 to 924 square feet. Current advertised two-bedroom rents run from about $2,299 to $3,532 per month. The listing on Apartments.com highlights familiar suburban-complex staples: a pool, fitness center and on-site leasing office.
Loan Terms And Income Targets
The financing will come through tax-exempt state bonds issued by the California Municipal Finance Authority and is intended to cover acquisition, rehabilitation and equipping of the apartments, according to the The San Diego Union-Tribune. City staff documents reviewed by the paper require that at least 75% of Sunterra’s units be reserved for households earning at or below 80% of the area median income, which is about $132,400 for a family of four. Within that, 40% of the units are targeted for households at 60% of AMI and 20% at 50% of AMI. Those restrictions would stay in place for at least the 15-year life of the bonds.
Tenants, Timeline And Reaction
Maple Housing Foundation, the nonprofit set to use the loan proceeds, told the San Diego Union-Tribune that tenants will not face mandatory relocation and that the conversion will be phased in as leases expire rather than through mass move-outs. City officials say formal notices to residents will go out once the financing is locked in, which they expect to happen in February.
Councilmember Jimmy Figueroa called Sunterra “one of the largest and most affordable complexes in the city,” The San Diego Union-Tribune reported. City staff also stressed that the state’s financing does not create any fiscal obligation or oversight responsibility for Oceanside itself, a detail likely meant to reassure residents watching the city’s bottom line.
Other Local Developments
The Sunterra deal is the latest in a run of locally financed affordable housing projects. Mirka Investments recently secured construction and bond financing for a 111-unit development on El Camino Real in Oceanside, a project that shows how developers are stacking state bond issuances with tax credits and bank loans to deliver income-targeted rentals, as reported by REBusinessOnline.
What’s Next
With the council’s approval in hand, the immediate next steps are closing the bond financing and launching tenant outreach. City staff say residents should expect formal notice after the documents are finalized. Housing advocates see the Sunterra conversion as one way to preserve relatively lower-cost homes in a market where two-bedroom asking rents commonly top $2,000, while tenant groups are expected to pay close attention to lease-level details and any relocation supports that surface during the rehabilitation work.
