An elevation drawing for Avalon Commons, which would include affordable housing units in northeast Fresno.

Fresno Housing’s next multifamily venture will be in a part of town many may not associate with affordable housing.

The 60-unit Avalon Commons would be the first affordable apartment complex built in northeast Fresno by the public agency that provides housing vouchers and develops affordable housing.

Located at the northwest corner of Alluvial and Chestnut avenues, the apartment complex will add 11 affordable units to the area with eight reserved for a tenant making 80% or less of the area median income and three for those making less than 50% of area median income. The affordable units will have three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

To help fund these affordable units, the Fresno City Council will weigh Thursday loaning $2.66 million to Fresno Housing.

Construction is slated to begin May 5 with a completion date of July 1, 2025, according to staff documents.  

 

Land acquisition will total $2.27 million. After construction and entitlement fees, the project will cost $40.6 million, according to staff documents.

On Tuesday, Fresno Housing board members voted to nearly double their contribution to Avalon Commons to $3.5 million.

Bids returned on the project were higher than originally anticipated due to increased cost of goods and higher interest since the original plans were submitted, said Tammy Townsend, deputy executive director with Fresno Housing.

The next step for the board is to approve a bid.

Fresno Housing selected Sacramento-based Brown Construction as the general contractor for the project.

Since 2010, Fresno Housing — previously known as the Fresno Housing Authority — has created 2,100 affordable, multi-family units including workforce housing complex The Monarch in Fresno’s Chinatown and Parc Grove Commons at Clinton and Fresno avenues.