Ventura, CA – The Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation (CEDC) will be celebrating the groundbreaking of a new apartment community called Valle Naranjal (valley of the orange grove) on Wednesday, February 23 at 10 a.m. The project is located at: 4268 Center Street in Piru. When completed, Valle Naranjal will be an income-restricted affordable rental development of 66 farmworker family apartments that will be rented to very low income families living in the Piru area. Very low income is defined as serving families with incomes at or below 50% of the Area Median Income (AMI) for the County. AMI varies yearly as guidelines are annually published by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). CEDC’s expert Property and Asset Management team will manage the property on site.

The project will be built with “green” features and, when completed, CEDC will seek to attain “Build it Green” certification for the development. Green features include Energy Star rated appliances in all apartments, photo voltaic, ultra low flow plumbing features, tankless water heaters, materials for construction to come from recycled or sustainable/renewal resources. Planted areas will be watered through low flow and drip irrigation sprinkling systems.

The development is situated on a former farmworker labor camp site built in the 1950’s and CEDC is constructing a special on-site exhibit documenting the history of the labor camp and the agricultural legacy of the area. The camp previously was owned by the Fillmore-Piru Citrus Association as a site for its migrant workers. Cabrillo’s project will be reserved for families headed by farmworkers who are U.S. citizens or permanent legal residents.

The 8-acre development will have apartments ranging from two to four bedrooms. Rent will be approximately $1,000 a month for the biggest apartments. To qualify, a family must make less than 50 percent of the county’s median income, or about $35,000 a year for a family of four, and the head of the household must be employed in agriculture.

Site amenities will include: recreational soccer field open to the public, community center with historic exhibit highlighting the area’s agricultural legacy, basketball courts, BBQ area, community garden and open space. The fields and community center will be open to the general public. CEDC is also constructing a pedestrian walkway from the Valle Naranjal community to connect with the existing bike and pedestrian safe routes to school walkway built by the County.

Service amenities will include: adult and youth leadership development, youth activities (art, literacy, computers), gardening and food cultivation, youth financial literacy, resident education on the natural environment, and health services for all residents through Clincas del Camino Real.

The project is financed through local, state and federal resources. Local sources include an allocation of Federal HOME dollars from the County of Ventura. State sources include California Department of Housing and Community Development Joe Serna Jr. Program Funds an allocation of 9% Low Income Housing Tax Credits, and Federal – United States Department of Agriculture Section 514 Rural Development Program.

The project will also contribute to the community by installing a new state-of-the-art sewer lift pump station with a generator on Center Street, repaving Center Street along our property line and beyond, providing a pedestrian walkway to meet up with the existing walkway from our property, and providing a new 12-inch water line.

“Cabrillo is proud to build new, ‘green’ dwellings for our some our valued farmworkers in Ventura County,” says Nicole Norori, CEDC’s project manager for the new development. “They nourish our economy through their hard work. They deserve safe, beautiful homes so they, and their families, can prosper, thrive and succeed together. We are honored to have partnered with so many wonderful organizations to bring these new homes to working families in the Santa Clara Valley.”

This new farmworker community joins with five other developments with a total of 148 farmworker apartments CEDC has built in the past seven years. In total, CEDC has built or rehabilitated 414 homes for farmworkers in Ventura County since 1981. Valle Naranjal’s 66 apartments will push the total of CEDC-produced farmworker homes to 480.

Construction on the community started in December 2010 is scheduled for completion in April 2012.

CEDC is a private non-profit affordable housing and community development corporation that provides comprehensive housing services, through a community building approach, in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, and the Santa Maria area. Since its incorporation in 1981, CEDC has built more than 1,400 units of affordable for-sale and multi-family rental homes, manages 715 affordable rental units, and has assisted more than 8,000 individuals and families with homeownership education, counseling and lending services. CEDC is a chartered member of NeighborWorks®, a national network of more than 230 community development and affordable home developers. This year marks CEDC’s 30th year of operation.