Architect finds ways to lower costs for Sacramento affordable housing complex

Developers can struggle to complete projects for affordable housing because of the difficulties inherent in making the finances work. That’s why architect Lawrence Scarpa takes it into his own hands to make the projects pencil out.

One of the latest examples for Scarpa and his firm, Brooks and Scarpa, is the $27.6 million Northview Pointe housing property in Sacramento, California. Very little steel was used in the construction of the 67-unit multifamily complex, significantly reducing project costs.

Private spaces that often come with an apartment building, like balconies and fenced-off outdoor spaces, are sacrificed for open spaces accessible to any resident, another cost-cutting measure. Wall panels, flooring and roofing are fabricated off-site, a cheaper process than on-site work. Landscaping utilizes only drought-tolerant native grasses and bushes that require less maintenance than plantings frequently used at private-sector multifamily properties.

“We basically try to make it as structurally simple as possible,” Scarpa told CoStar News.

The result is an attractive two-story structure with a main entrance designed to look like a front porch. Solid aluminum panels with light-blue shading contrast with silver-colored perforated metal panels. A central courtyard and corridors with large entrance portals allow daylight to spread throughout the open spaces.

The Northview Pointe project, developed by Excelerate Housing Group and Hope Cooperative on behalf of the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency, opened in May and is fully occupied. It’s part of SHRA’s program to provide housing to people who have recently experienced homelessness, according to the agency.

Brooks and Scarpa has designed numerous affordable housing properties, including Brunson Terrace in Santa Monica and Luna Vista in Los Angeles. Scarpa, who is also an architecture professor at the University of Southern California, and his wife, Angela Brooks, founded their namesake firm in 1991. The firm won the American Institute of Architects’ Gold Medal in 2022.

Despite the various techniques that Scarpa used to reduce design and construction costs, the Los Angeles-based architect said it’s still extremely difficult to break even on affordable housing projects. That’s even with SHRA using federal low-income tax credits and a subsidized loan from the California Department of Housing and Community Development.

“Affordable housing is always going to be 20% to 30% higher in costs than market-rate housing,” Scarpa said. This is typically due to higher soft costs from more complex funding and regulations, less desirable development sites that can require more work, and the inclusion of additional community benefits. The generated rental revenue is also lower for subsidized properties.

But Northview Pointe was designed to feel open to passersby and to “eschew the typical neighborhood defensive apartment buildings with solid walls and fences,” according to the firm’s project description.

“It’s not meant to be like a typical apartment building,” Scarpa said. “It’s meant to feel welcoming.”