Riverside residents fight 100% affordable housing project

Residents in the Inland Empire are battling plans by Gilbane Development for a 100-percent affordable housing complex in Riverside’s Casa Blanca.

Riverside Councilman Chuck Conder has joined hundreds of residents who oppose the 121-unit affordable complex for seniors and families on the south side of Railroad Avenue, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported.

Proponents say the 3.9-acre project would bring much-needed housing for older residents and younger families between Madison and Jefferson streets, in the South Riverside neighborhood.

Opponents call the proposal a good idea but a bad fit for the site — a narrow strip between Railroad Avenue and the railroad tracks south of the 91 Freeway they say would be unsafe for children.

“I can’t support it because the community doesn’t want it,” Conder, whose Ward 4 includes Casa Blanca, told the Press-Enterprise.

The Rhode Island-based developer has filed plans for 28 apartment buildings of up to three-stories, including 17 buildings containing 75 apartments for older residents, and 11 with 45 apartments for families. Each complex would be separated by green open space.

The project would include a community recreation center, with murals reflecting Casa Blanca’s heritage. A new sidewalk would be laid on Railroad Avenue.

The affordable apartments would be rented to households with lower-than-average incomes for the area. If approved, construction likely would start in February 2025.

Last April, the Riverside City Council voted 6-1, with Conder dissenting, to approve the sale of the former redevelopment property to Gilbane for $2.4 million, with an eye toward the affordable apartment project.

Cindy Mendoza-Collins, chair of the Casa Blanca Community Action Group, then submitted a petition with more than 300 signatures opposing the development. She said residents still oppose the project – and will fight it “to the end.”

“We’re not against affordable housing,” Mendoza-Collins told the newspaper. “We’re just against that location. Put it somewhere else.”

She said residents worry that traffic generated by the development would aggravate congestion, and that the more than 100 trains on the rail line threaten kids and seniors. She said neighbors also worry about an increase in crime, noise and pollution, and parking problems caused by multifamily tenants.

“Those trains are 20,000 tons,” Conder said at a City Council meeting. “You think they are going to be able to stop if some kid goes out there and tries to get the ball he hit over the fencing area?”

Jesse Ramirez, whose Corona-based Southern California Project Strategies represents the developer Gilbane, countered the councilman’s and residents’ concerns. He said the project would replace homeless camps and trash.

He said Gilbane would provide more parking spaces than required. Many safe and attractive housing projects across the nation have been built or are being built near railroad tracks, Ramirez noted. The new sidewalk would make walking safer.

As examples, he cited similar developments in Riverside, including the new Citron Apartment Homes across Merrill Avenue from the Riverside Plaza.

Ramirez said Gilbane would help fill the need for housing for young families priced out of today’s real estate market and house part of the area’s surging population of adults 65 and older.

“These beautiful units will be available for seniors on fixed incomes and provide reliable and sustainable housing options,” he said.