Standard Communities Builds Antioch Workforce Rentals Below $500,000 Per Unit

Standard Communities has broken ground on two affordable apartment projects in Antioch, California, at a cost of less than $500,000 per unit. Chief Development Officer Feras Qumseya told Multifamily Dive that the Los Angeles-based developer is doing this without state or local subsidies, a figure he described as well below typical costs. He cited a Terner Center report that put average 4% Low-Income Housing Tax Credit project costs in California at roughly $660,000 per unit between 2020 and 2023.

The projects belong to the developer's Joyfield Living platform, which targets middle-income workers such as teachers, police officers, nurses and line cooks. Joyfield Flats at Lakeview Center will include 233 apartments across seven buildings, and Joyfield Flats at Buchanan Crossing is planned with 195 units across six buildings. The company uses a standardized base design that it adapts for facades and site integration, and it selects markets where that design can be built at a set cost.

Antioch helped by designating commercial areas for infill housing, which gave the projects a predictable entitlement path. Qumseya said the timeline from site acquisition to construction start was 16 months, which he called nearly unheard of in California. He also pointed to high interest rates and rising construction costs as pressures that widen financing gaps.

For developers, the takeaway is that pre-designated infill zones and repeatable product designs can shorten approvals and cap per-unit costs, even as debt remains expensive.