USA Properties Fund Buys Fremont Development Site

A long-stalled Fremont development site tied to the collapse of SiliconSage Builders is getting a second life as a nearly 300-unit affordable housing project.

Roseville-based USA Properties Fund and Tustin-based Riverside Charitable Corporation acquired nearly 3 acres in Fremont’s Centerville neighborhood for $11.5 million, the Silicon Valley Business Journal reported, citing Alameda County Assessor’s Office records.

The 10-parcel assemblage sits between Fremont Boulevard, Parish Avenue and Peralta Boulevard, where the developers plan to build a 290-unit fully affordable housing complex with ground-floor retail known as Centerville Plaza Apartments. USA Properties Fund had already acquired land for the project’s first phase last year.

With the second phase site now in hand, construction financing is expected to close shortly, and work on the first phase could begin as soon as June, USA Properties Fund Senior Vice President Rich Truempler told the Business Journal.

Centerville Plaza Apartments will rise in two phases. The first portion includes 140 apartments and 1,600 square feet of retail in a five-story building. The second phase calls for another 150 apartments, plus 3,500 square feet of retail spread across one five-story and one three-story structure. The project is being financed with 4 percent low-income housing tax credits, while the second phase will get a $10.3 million boost from the Housing Trust of Silicon Valley.

The site has been floated for housing before.

In 2019, the City of Fremont approved SiliconSage Builders’ mixed-use project there in 2019, with plans for 93 apartments, 72 townhomes and 26,000 square feet of commercial space. But after starting demolition work, the Sunnyvale-based developer imploded in late 2020 when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused the company and its founder of defrauding investors. SiliconSage later filed for bankruptcy and its portfolio was placed into receivership.

Los Angeles-based Bolour Associates ultimately acquired the Fremont property through foreclosure. Nearby, another abandoned SiliconSage project was taken over by MidPen Housing in 2023 and is slated for 235 affordable units.

USA Properties Fund has the distinction of completing the most affordable housing apartment communities in 2025 of any California-based developer in the industry, according to the Affordable Housing Finance AHF 50 report cited by the Business Journal. The firm has developed or acquired and rehabilitated more than 19,000 apartments across 92 communities in total.

— Chris Malone Méndez