An artist's rendering of the $24.69 million veterans and family housing project currently under construction in downtown Madera. Image via City of Madera video

The City of Madera held a virtual groundbreaking on a new $24.69 million affordable housing project in the city’s downtown district on Tuesday morning.

The 48-unit community will consist of two three-story buildings, funded in part by more than $11 million from the California Strategic Growth Council as part of cap-and-trade proceeds. Other funding sources include the city, which owned the parcels, the Redevelopment Successor Agency, Madera County Behavioral Health Services, tax credit equity and private loans.

It’s the first new development that the downtown area has experienced in many years. It could be completed as early as the third quarter of 2021.

“We have been trying to make improvements in downtown Madera for years,” said Madera Mayor Pro Tem Santos Garcia in a video released about the project. “For us to be awarded these monies, over $11 million to start this project means more affordable housing and an uplifting of our downtown area, making it a better place for people to come and live, and be able to come and shop.”

The project at the corner of Fifth and C Streets includes 18 studios, 10 one-bedroom, 12 two-bedroom and 8 three-bedroom units geared toward veterans and families.

Approximately $3.8 million of the award will go to the City of Madera for transit, pedestrian and bike improvements throughout downtown, including 27,000 linear feet of new sidewalks, and an adult bike share program which will be implemented by the Madera Police Department.

A large network of community stakeholders and funding partners worked on the project for over a year including the Successor Agency, Madera County Veterans Service Office, Madera County Behavioral Health, Housing Authority of Madera, Community Action Partnership of Madera County, Madera County Transportation Commission, Madera Downtown Association, Madera County Arts Council, Madera Unified School District, and many others.

MORES and Pacific West Communities are the developers for the project. Development services resulting in the grant award were provided by Sigala Inc., a local urban planning and real estate firm.