By Ruby Lee Schembari
WATSONVILLE — Aug. 12 marked the official opening of Sparrow Terrace in Watsonville, a brand-new housing complex that will feature 72 affordable apartments for low-income families, farmworkers and formerly homeless people.
The Community Room at the Sparrow Terrace affordable housing complex in Watsonville.
The estimated cost of the development was $56 million. It was developed by the MidPen Housing Corporation, said Senior Associate Project Manager Carlos Lurado.
The project was paid for by a total of eight funders, which range from the city of Watsonville, the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Cruz, and even international-banking leviathan Wells Fargo.
Sparrow Terrace offers a total of 72 low-income apartments, with 41 of the homes designated for farmworkers and formerly homeless people. Rents can range from $665 at the lowest for a one-bedroom, to $2,138 at the highest for a three-bedroom apartment, and depend on a person’s or a family’s income, said Lurado.
Tenants have the choice between one, two, and three-bedroom apartments that feature an all-electric kitchen with refrigerators, ovens, and dishwashers.
In total, there are:
- 16 400-square-foot studio apartments
- 19 613-square-foot one-BR apartments
- 19 749-square-foot two-BR apartments
- 18 1,027-square-foot three-BR apartments
Tenants even have access to shared amenities, like a community room with a kitchen, after after-school learning center, a playground, on-site laundry facilities, secure bike storage, and a community garden for tenants to enjoy. Additionally, there will be a total of 102 parking spaces for tenants and guests to use.
One resident who currently lives there with his family says it’s a great place for his children.
“This has been a significant change for us because we have so much freedom here. In our previous place, there had been an aggressive dog that made my children scared to play on the patio,” said Eliazar Resendiz.
“But we are very happy here, thanks to this beautiful project and playground. We have plenty of space and my children are pleased with how secure it is,” he added.
Currently, there are 197 people living at Sparrow Terrace, and every apartment is full, said Lurado.
“Though not likely due to actual family sizes of applicants, Sparrow Terrace could hold theoretical maximum capacity of 310 residents assuming a maximum occupancy of two people per bedroom, plus an additional person for each unit,” He added in an email.
TOP PHOTO: A view of the exterior of the new housing development in Watsonville.