Real estate investment firm Kennedy Wilson has signed a long-term ground lease for a 32-acre land parcel in Camarillo, California, on which it plans to build a new mixed-residential community with a total of 589 apartments, single-family townhomes, and subsidized senior housing.
The deal builds on Kennedy Wilson’s ongoing seven-year partnership with California State University, Channel Islands, which owns the development land. The investor had originally acquired an existing 386-unit apartment community and 15,000 square feet of retail from CSUCI in 2016, and has invested approximately $8 million to improve its interiors and amenities.
The soon-to-be named project will offer a total of 310 market-rate apartments, 109 for-sale townhomes, and 170 income-restricted apartments for seniors, as well as community-serving amenities. The site adjoins the CSUCI campus at the western edge of the Santa Monica Mountains.
“Developing this new community is an important step in our larger partnership with CSUCI and will meaningfully contribute to a region that is short on supply of high-quality apartments and homes for faculty, staff, and local residents,” says Nick Bridges, managing director at Kennedy Wilson. “Many people are rethinking how and where they want to live, and we continue to see a trend of residents moving from city centers toward communities that have access to the outdoors, are commutable to major employment centers, and are relatively affordable. Camarillo and CSUCI are uniquely positioned to benefit from this renewed interest in suburban living.”
The development team is set to break ground on the site in Q4 2021. Kennedy Wilson will develop the wholly owned apartments, while its affordable housing joint venture, Vintage Housing, will build and offer the senior apartments. The townhome sites will be built and sold by Comstock Homes, with Kennedy Wilson as a minority partner in the joint venture.
“We are thrilled to see the site’s redevelopment process begin and to move ahead on a pioneering public-private partnership that will also generate a significant revenue stream to benefit our campus’ future growth for years to come, as well as provide housing options for our faculty, staff, and other community members,” says CSUCI interim president Richard Yao, Ph.D. “We value our partnership with Kennedy Wilson and their proven commitment to building and maintaining strong communities, and we look forward to working together to bring our shared vision to life.”
