A new neighborhood called Maison’s Palmdale is being built about 40 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. It will include 118 detached single-family homes, meaning no shared walls like in apartments. These homes will have either two or three bedrooms, and each one will come with private parking, including a two-car garage or spots right outside the house. The idea is to give working families the chance to live in a house with a backyard, some space, and privacy—something that’s hard to find in Southern California unless you have a high income.
Homes Will Stay Affordable for the Long Term
Out of the 118 homes:
- 36 homes are set aside for people who earn up to 50% of the area’s median income (AMI)
- 81 homes are for people earning up to 60% of AMI
- The last home is for the on-site manager
These homes will be affordable for the long haul, with restrictions that prevent them from being flipped or sold at market price later. This makes sure that future low-income families can benefit from these homes too. It’s a different approach from many past developments, where homes became unaffordable after a few years.
The Project Is Getting Big Financial Support
This development costs over $55 million, and the funding comes from different places:
- A $31.6 million construction loan from Merchants Bank of Indiana
- About $24 million in permanent financing using low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC). These credits make it easier for developers to raise money by attracting investors interested in tax savings.
- WNC, a private investment firm, is handling the tax credit equity.
- Fannie Mae is providing a long-term loan through its MBS (Mortgage-Backed Securities) program.
The project also used state tax-exempt bonds to help lower borrowing costs, making it possible to build affordable homes instead of expensive market-rate ones.
A New Way to Build Single-Family Housing
This is the first project in California to use new rules that allow homes to be built on smaller lots than usual. These new zoning laws—made possible by bills like SB 330—cut through the usual layers of government red tape and made it easier to get approval for housing. That means more homes can be built on less land, without cramming people into small apartments.
It’s also an experiment in how California might solve its housing shortage: giving low- and middle-income families access to real homes, not just units in big buildings.
Developers and Partners Behind the Project
The project is led by Ravello Holdings, a real estate company that focuses on building affordable homes. They teamed up with Merchants Capital, WNC, and Stifel, an investment firm that helped arrange the financing. All of these groups worked together to keep costs down, follow California’s housing guidelines, and get construction moving.
They’re hoping this kind of housing can be repeated across the state—bringing back the idea of the “starter home” that many people used to be able to afford but is now almost impossible to find in California.
