What's at stake?
Avalon Commons, an affordable housing development, held its grand opening on Tuesday, becoming the first affordable housing development in northeast Fresno. For several decades, the city has sited most of its affordable housing in lower-income neighborhoods with poorer quality schools and amenities. The project adds 60 new affordable homes to the city’s stock.
But a looming gap still remains, as new data shows that over 35,000 low-income households in Fresno County still lack access to affordable housing.
A month and a half ago, Iva Tanner had a stroke, something she attributed to having taken care of her mother for five years after she developed dementia.
“I knew I was at the end, five years is a long time to labor without assistance,” Tanner said.
A minister for more than 30 years, she left her home in Sacramento and came to Fresno after her father developed and eventually passed away from Alzheimer’s. Tanner promised her father that she would keep her mother at home.
After her stroke, Tanner heard of Avalon Commons, new affordable housing in Fresno, and applied to be a resident. On Tuesday, she received the honorary key to her new home during Avalon Commons’ grand opening ceremony.
“My mother is healed from moderate dementia, [and] when He sends the kingdom to do a work, He means for it to be done, and I couldn’t leave no sooner,” Tanner said during the opening ceremony.
Nestled at the crossroads of Chestnut and Alluvial in northeast Fresno, Avalon Commons is currently in its first of two phases, with the first phase including 60 affordable units of one, two and three-bedroom homes. The second phase will add an additional 45 apartments, according to R.L. Davidson Inc., the architecture firm responsible for the design of the homes.
Tyrone Roderick Williams, CEO for Fresno Housing, the developer, said the addition of the affordable homes reaffirms the community of local leaders’ commitment to creating affordable housing.
“Just about two and a half years ago, this is where peaches used to be growing, but now this is where dreams will rise from the soil and become reality,” Williams said.
The project makes a much-needed but small dent in the city’s affordable housing goals. Mayor Jerry Dyer’s One Fresno Housing Strategy set a goal of building nearly 4,700 new affordable homes by 2025. In 2022 and 2023, the city saw just 336 new affordable homes completed, according to state data.
Across Fresno County, the California Housing Partnership Corporation has identified 35,000 lower income families that lack access to affordable housing.
Avalon is Fresno Housing’s third project to open in the city this year, with 64 homes at Promesa Commons in Jane Addams and 41 homes at The Arthur, near Blackstone and Shields, cutting ribbons earlier in 2024.
The total development cost for Avalon Commons’ first phase was $40,615,276, and the second phase is expected to cost $31,416,466, according to city documents.
The city invested nearly $6 million of federal and state housing resources into the development, including HOME, CDBG, and California’s Local Housing Trust Fund grants, according to city documents.
Additionally, the development received $2.2 million in funding from the No Place Like Home Program, a state program created to invest in the development of permanent housing for people in need of mental health services who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
Avalon Commons is the first affordable housing development in Council District 6, according to Dyer. Featuring a community building, a dog park, a playground and a basketball court, the development also sits within the confines of Clovis Unified.
Moreover, 15 units will be designated as supportive housing units for tenants receiving supportive services from the county’s Department of Behavioral Health.
“We spend $5.3 million a year right now on supportive housing; it’s so necessary and we’re honored to do that, but more needs to be done,” said Supervisor Nathan Magsig.
“I can tell you that over the course of the next 24 months, we’ll be close to $7 million of annual supportive housing support right here in Fresno County.”
A timeline for Avalon Commons’ second phase has yet to be announced.
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