One of Oceanside’s oldest and largest apartment complexes, the 240-unit Sunterra on Sherbourne Drive, will see 75% of its apartments converted to rent-restricted affordable housing with a $105 million state loan approved Wednesday by the Oceanside City Council. The apartments will be converted as tenants transition over time, said Salvador Roman, a senior management analyst for the city. The 25% of the complex not rent-restricted will be available to tenants whose income is not low enough to qualify for the restricted-income units. There will be no mandatory relocation of tenants, said a spokesman for the Maple Housing Foundation, a nonprofit that will use the tax-free loan of bond proceeds from the California Municipal Finance Authority to rehab the apartments. The Sunterra apartments at 3851 Sherbourne Drive opened in 1974 on a hilltop west of College Boulevard. Many of the current tenants have low incomes and stay there because the market-rate rents are relatively low for the area. Apartments in the complex have two bedrooms and one or two bathrooms, and range from 890 to 924 square feet, according to online listings. Rents range from $2,299 to $3,544 per month, according to the website Apartments.com. “This is one of the largest and most affordable complexes in the city,” said Councilmember Jimmy Figueroa. “I’m excited to see this come forward.” The state financing carries no obligation or oversight responsibility for the city, said Leilani Hines, Oceanside’s housing and neighborhood services director. The conversion to restricted affordable apartments will help Oceanside meet its state-mandated affordable housing goals, Hines said. The rent restrictions will continue for at least the 15-year life of the bonds. The borrower will use the state financing for the “acquisition, rehabilitation, improvement and equipping” of apartments in three categories of affordable housing based on household income, according to a city staff report. At least 75% of the apartments in the complex will be reserved for households with incomes at or below 80% of the area median income ($132,400 for a family of four), under the terms of the loan. Also, at least 40% of units will be occupied by households with incomes at or below 60% of area median income ($86,760 for a family of four), and 20% of units by households with incomes at or below 50% of the area median income ($82,700 for a family of four). Tenants in the complex will be notified of possible changes after the financing is secured, which probably will be in February, Hines said. Several other affordable housing projects in the region, mostly new construction, have been completed with money from the California Municipal Finance Authority. In October 2024, the Oceanside City Council approved the finance authority’s loan of up to $45 million from tax-exempt state bonds for San Diego-based Mirka Investments to build 111 rental apartments along the eastern side of El Camino Real a few blocks north of state Route 78. Mirka also is building a 43-apartment affordable development, South River Village, partially financed with the state bond money on North River Road in Oceanside. That project will satisfy the affordable housing requirements for the nearby North River Farms residential community. Other Mirka affordable projects in the county built with state loans include the 19-unit La Costa Towne Square in Carlsbad, 126 apartments at The Ivey in Escondido, and affordable residential developments in Kearny Mesa, San Ysidro, and San Diego. ...read more read less