Jackie Krentzman is a Bay Area-based writer and editor.

For more than six months, Leslie Aceves spent much of her time looking for an apartment in or near Colusa for herself and her two-year-old daughter. As her frustration grew at the lack of options and long waiting lists, she received an unexpected call. Her application for a two-bedroom unit in a new apartment building, Rancho Colus, was approved.

“I just got the key yesterday, and I already love it!” says Aceves, who had been living with a friend in Williams during her apartment search. “My job is only 15 minutes away, the place is so modern and spacious, and there is even a playground where I can take my daughter every day to play!”

The first phase of Rancho Colus, an affordable living complex in this semi-rural city of 6,600 in Sacramento Valley, is a small step towards reversing the city’s acute housing shortage. Rising home prices have squeezed out residents, which City Manager Jesse Cain says is due in part to a preponderance of single-family homes on large lots and a vocal NIMBY contingent.

“Housing prices here have been higher than in nearby communities, because many of the homes are owned by old money, and people sit on their properties or pass them down to their children, so they don’t hit the open market,” says Cain.

With the average housing price in the city at $378,000 this year, people are moving out of Colusa — often far away from their jobs. “Anecdotally, I’ve heard that employees of the city’s biggest employer, Farmers Fresh Mushrooms, have been moving to Yuba City, 25 miles away, as housing prices can be $150,000 or more lower,” he says.

The Rancho Colus complex is a start towards addressing this crisis. Completed in January, the 49-unit project has one-, two-, and three-bedroom units allocated for low-income families, with 15 units set aside for people experiencing homelessness or with a mental disability. It also includes a large community building with public meeting rooms, private offices for meetings with county-provided support service counselors, a computer area, a community garden, and other amenities. Rancho Colus is within walking distance of a supermarket and other stores.

The Regional Housing Authority (RHA), which co-developed the project along with Sage Housing Group LLC, notes that Colusa was in dire need of housing due to a growing number of unhoused individuals.

“The city has not had a new affordable housing development in seven or eight years. And that was a rehab that didn’t add any more units,” said Gustavo Becerra, RHA executive director.

Rancho Colus began as a county-initiated project. Colusa County gave RHA $1.45 million in seed money, which the nonprofit used to purchase land. The city agreed to waive many of its impact fees — including police, fire, water, and sewage services — saving the developers $160,000.

Other financing included $3.5 million from the state’s No Place Like Home Program, a $720,000 loan from the Federal Home Loan Bank Affordable Housing Project, and $271,000 from the California Energy Commission’s BUILD program. (Rancho Colus runs entirely on passive solar energy.) The final piece of the $23.5 million financing puzzle was $16 million in tax credits from the California Tax-Credit Allocation Committee.

“We call it the funding lasagna,” says Becerra. “Because there are so many layers.”

The second phase, 48 more units, is in the planning stages. Cain hopes that some can be set aside for seniors. He calls senior housing the city’s most urgent housing need.

“Our seniors have difficulty staying in their hometown,” he says. “Our one senior building has a mile-long waiting list, so they are moving to Lincoln, Rocklin, or Williams instead.”

Forty-nine built, hundreds more to go

The state’s sixth housing element determined that Colusa needs to add 379 units by 2029 — a daunting proposition that will be hard to reach, Cain says. The city is exploring various affordable and market-rate housing opportunities. The city would like to add to its current mixed housing stock, which includes mobile home parks, apartment complexes, and duplexes. The planning commission and city council have already approved in principle a 254-unit subdivision with single-family homes, duplexes, and apartments.  

The city is also looking at annexing part of East Main Street for housing and has met with potential developers. It has begun early-stage discussions with a private landowner near Rancho Colus who has indicated willingness to sell the city a five-acre parcel for senior housing, contingent on the city first finding a development partner.

“We welcome Rancho Colus, as it will make a good-sized dent in our huge need for housing, especially affordable housing,” Cain says. “We hope in the coming years we can find ways to bring more affordable complexes here so our residents can raise their families and grow old in the city they love.”