Construction file photo by Frank Lopez

State Treasurer Fiona Ma on Thursday announced that $6.5 billion in tax credits and bond allocations this year to increase the supply of affordable housing.

The California Tax Credit Allocation Committee and California Debt Limit Allocation Committee yesterday approved the amounts that will be available to developers to build affordable housing and set the debt ceiling limit for the amount of private activity bonds that may be issued for housing and other projects in calendar year 2025.

The total value of the state tax credits is $72.6 million, plus an additional $500 million in one-time state credits from the most recent state budget.

The federal tax credit amount is $117.45 million.

The annual debt ceiling for private activity bonds is $5.12 billion, up 5% from 2024 based on population.

“These programs are critical to California meeting its housing goals and put thousands of affordable units on the market each year,” said Treasurer Ma. “Ensuring that these tools produce the highest levels of affordability possible is a priority in my administration and we are constantly looking to make these programs more competitive so that only the best projects get built.”

Local projects benefit from these credit allocations, which are awarded over the course of 10 years.

Last month a $10 million bond cap was allocated for the San Joaquin Senior, San Joaquin Apartments and California Apartments around the 22000 block of W. California Ave. in the Fresno County city of San Joaquin for 100 units being developed by Irvine-based Community Preservation Partners. Construction on the three complexes is expected to begin in March and be complete in December, according to information in a California Debt Limit Allocation Committee staff report.

The Pleasant View Apartments at 3555 N. Pleasant Ave. in Fresno received a $13.9 million bond cap allocation for 60 units being developed by Michigan-based American Community Developers, Inc. Construction on Pleasant View is expected to begin in June and take a year.

Also in Fresno, the Dakota apartments at 3787 N. Blackstone Ave. received a $35.87 bond cap allocation for 114 units being developed by Illinois-based UPholdings. Construction is expected to begin in May and be complete by September 2026.