By TR Robertson
One of the newest apartment complexes in Vista, CA is the Paseo Artists Village development on Paseo Santa Fe. This project is part of the Community Housing Works (CHW) development. CHW has a 30-year history of developing multi-family housing in California. Their web site shows many of the 42 communities in San Diego, Los Angeles, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Fallbrook, North Park, and the San Francisco Bay Area where many of their projects have been built. They have constructed over 3,600 rental apartments for over 9,000 residents. Sun Country Builders is the current company developing the Paseo Artists site. “CHW builds affordable apartment communities that are beautiful and award winning creating thriving communities from the inside out.” A recent tour, with Chris Bloom, Project Manager, pointed out the unique features of the 1, 2, 3-bedroom apartments and the planned retail and artists workshops planned for this development. The plan is for the Paseo Artists Village to be a “gateway to an arts neighborhood and a catalyst for vibrant new development along the Paseo Santa Fe Corridor”. Anticipated completion date for this project is February 1, 2022.
Currently there are over 3,000 people who have shown interest in possibly becoming an applicant for housing in this 60-unit project. One of the units will be designated for the on-site manager. Anyone interested in the project can go to the CHW web site and register as an interested applicant, www.chworks.org. The priority selection for the first set of applicants will go to artists, veterans, and residents of the City of Vista. Units will be allocated based on family size and current financial status to qualify for the apartments.
The project is divided into two separate buildings. The smaller building will house 8 units of 1- and 2-bedroom apartments. Several of the apartments have high vaulted ceilings. The bedrooms are sizable and there is ample storage in the apartments. There is also a 2,100 sq. ft. retail site on the ground floor that is available for any type of retail shop such as a coffee bar, a restaurant, or any other business. Parking for this building is for the retail business that takes over the space. In the second, larger complex, there is a two-level parking area for 52 spaces and there will be additional parking developed in front of the apartments on Paseo Santa Fe as well as road improvements being developed behind the complex.
The second building will have 1, 2, and 3-bedroom apartments. The three-bedroom apartments have 2 bathrooms and are approximately 1,200 sq. ft. of space. All the apartments are air-conditioned, have double paned windows and sliding glass doors. They have large kitchens with dish washers, refrigerators and electric cooktops and stoves. Most of the apartments have outdoor patios, varying in size. Within the buildings are common spaces that will have comfortable furniture for residents to use and to socialize.
In the larger complex, the ground floor will also be home to the leasing office and a series of rooms for the residents. These rooms will house a computer room, a kitchen area with tables and chairs for the residents to use, a coffee nook, a reading room and they are adjacent to a large outdoor courtyard. The courtyard will have planters and outdoor furniture for use by the residents. In the 2-level garage there will be a bike room that can house up to 18 bikes for storage.
On the other side of the courtyard a 2,100 sq. ft. artist display and workspace area are planned, open to the residents to use for their artwork projects and open to others in Vista to use as well as a gallery to display their work. More information will be available on this space once the site opens. On the 5th floor of the larger building a childrens’ playground area is planned with a series of outdoor activity play areas.
For those interested in the Paseo Artist Village or any of the other CHW projects, go to their web site and click on the Apartment Search site, then go to the All Communities. Paseo Artist Village will be in this area as well as several other projects CHW is either planning or has completed. If you are interested in trying to be selected for residency, click on the sign-up to check availability and to put in your interest in selection and signing up for the wait list.
