City to host ribbon cutting for local housing project

The City of Madera, in partnership with The Pacific Companies, MORES, and the Madera Chamber of Commerce, will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially celebrate the completion of Esperanza Village, a new downtown housing project located at 125 N. C Street.

The ribbon cutting for Esperanza Village will be held Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. Esperanza Village is a 48-unit affordable housing development located in the heart of Downtown Madera.

In 2019, the City of Madera, in collaboration with The Pacific Companies and MORES, obtained an $11.3 million grant for the project from the California Strategic Growth Council’s Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities program. Construction for the project concluded in the fourth quarter of 2021, and all units are now fully occupied.

Esperanza Village is comprised of two buildings and provides affordable housing options for families and smaller households. One of the structures features larger two and three-bedroom units, while the other includes one-bedroom and studio units — several of the one-bedroom and studio units house residents from the Madera County Behaviorial Health program.

The project sites were formally underutilized parking lots granted to the project from the city’s former Redevelopment Agency. Approximately $3.8 million of the total award will go directly to the City of Madera for transit, pedestrian, and bike improvements throughout downtown, including 27,000 linear feet of new sidewalks and an adult bike share program to be implemented by the Madera Police Department.

“This is truly a major accomplishment for Madera,” said Madera Mayor Santos Garcia. “It will change the face of our downtown and serve as an impetus for additional investment in Madera. It shows what a community that works together can accomplish.”

An extensive network of community stakeholders and funding partners will be in attendance, including the Madera City Council, Successor Agency of the Former Redevelopment Agency, Madera County Behavioral Health, Madera Housing Authority, Community Action Partnership of Madera County, Madera County Transportation Commission, Madera Downtown Association, Madera County Arts Council, San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, Sigala Inc., and many others.