ELK GROVE, Calif — The future of the Oak Rose Apartments is still up in there, and it's not clear for how much longer.
After the Excelerate Housing Group signaled a willingness to possibly move the Oak Rose project to an alternate site, Elk Grove Mayor Bobbi Singh-Allen is expected to ask city council to postpone their vote on the project again to let talks continue.
"The City is having meaningful conversations about an alternative site in hopes of reaching an agreement. We are in the early stages of this process and will continue to do our due diligence in hopes of finding a win-win solution if possible. The City remains committed to meeting our affordable housing needs," Singh-Allen said in a statement.
She added that the public hearing could be continued to a nonspecific date.
In a recent news release, Dana Trujillo, CEO of Excelerate Housing Group, said they've been in conversations with city staff for months, doing due diligence on potential alternate sites.
“We recently provided the city with the terms and conditions necessary to make a new permanent supportive housing project feasible at one of these alternative locations. We are hopeful that these conversations will be fruitful and that we can come to an agreement as we continue our efforts to build safe, affordable homes to benefit the many Elk Grove residents who desperately need housing,” she said.
The project was voted down by city council more than a year ago. It recently resurfaced for another vote, with support from city staff, after two lawsuits, one from the developer and one from California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
A spokesperson for the Attorney General's Office said the law required Elk Grove to approve the project more than a year ago, which is why they were "vigorously prosecuting" their lawsuit against the city.
It's not clear yet how future actions from city council could impact the lawsuit from the attorney general.
"We would have to review any settlement agreement to determine how it affects our lawsuit, which has different claims than the developer’s lawsuit," a spokesperson for the office said.
The Oak Rose Apartments is a 67-unit permanent supportive housing program for people at risk of homelessness that was proposed for the city's historic district.
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