SIERRA FLATS AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECT

PalaSeek LLP, Oikos Development Corporation, and Sierra Flats Senior LP will break ground on a 160-unit Housing and Urban and Development (HUD) affordable housing project in Carson City this week.

Phase one of the Sierra Flats project will include 40 senior housing units and 40 family units with average rental prices expected to be between $450 and $1150. The project is intended for seniors and families whose income is not more than 60% of the Carson City median gross income.

Average rents in northern Nevada have jumped 89% in the last seven years, from below $900 to $1680, according to the real estate appraisal and consulting firm Johnson Perkins Griffin.

These dramatic cost increases have left Nevadans facing the greatest challenge in finding affordable housing in the nation. According to the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, Nevada has a shortage of more than 84-thousand affordable rental homes for extremely low-income renters. There are only twenty affordable and available rental homes for every 100 extremely low-income renter households in the state.

“The Sierra Flats project will bring much-needed relief to low-income renters in Carson City who have struggled to keep up with the rising cost of living here in northern Nevada,” Carson City Mayor Lori Bagwell said. “Public-private partnerships such as this are critical to ensure our community can continue to increase the number of available affordable housing units and create sustainable solutions for our housing crisis.”

Carson City acquired the property for this project in 1960 and directed city staff to request proposals from developers for an affordable housing project in January 2019. The land was conveyed to the Sierra Flats developers earlier this year so construction could begin.

“Our company was created in direct response to the lack of affordable housing across the country,” Oikos Development Corporation President and CEO Michael Snodgrass said. “We want to provide beautiful, energy-efficient, and sustainable solutions for low-income families and their communities.”

The project will be built to the rigorous National Green Building Standard (NGBS), which requires independent, third-party verification that a building or development is designed and built to high performance in the following areas: site design, resource efficiency, water efficiency, energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality, and operation and maintenance. Sierra Flats will also include solar power to reduce tenant electricity costs and electric vehicle charging stations.

"A lack of affordable housing impacts all aspects of us -- our health, our happiness and our ability to dedicate ourselves to our families and careers," said Governor Steve Sisolak. "The work we are doing together is imperative: getting just one more person into a home makes an incredible difference. I'm proud to work with organizations across the State to do this critical work."

Sierra Flats Senior LP is funded through the Nevada Housing Division and the 9% tax credit program. In addition, HOME funds and National Housing Trust Funds are being provided by the Nevada Housing Division to ensure rents are affordable.