Chelsea Investment Partners broke ground this morning on 80 additional units of affordable farmworker housing, which comprise the second phase of the Cesar Chavez Villas apartment complex.

 The 80 new rental units, to be built at a cost of $26.7 million, will be available for rent next summer.

 “We are very pleased to have Chelsea Investment Partners break ground on these additional units of affordable housing because they fulfill a critical housing need for our farmworker community,” Coachella Mayor Steven Hernandez said during a groundbreaking ceremony this morning at the construction site at 85-851 Bagdad Avenue.

 The new units will be contained in six, two-story buildings with 16 one-bedroom units; 40 two-bedroom units; and 24 three-bedroom units, each of which will be equipped with a refrigerator, an oven, a dishwasher, a garbage disposal and cable hookups.

 Families that rent these units will have access to existing on-site amenities in the Cesar Chavez Development, including a clubhouse / community room, a computer room, a basketball court, a swimming pool, and outdoor patio / barbecue area, a tot lot and laundry facilities.

 In addition, Cesar Chavez Villas will offer after school programs, ESL classes, computer literacy classes, money management and financial literacy programs, as well as health and wellness programs, which will be free to all residents.

All of the units will be income-restricted, according to Low Income Housing Tax Credit guidelines. As such, they will be offered to households with income levels at 30 to 60 percent of the Area Median Income. Rental assistance will be available to applicants through the USDA Section 521 Rental Assistance Program.

 Carlsbad-based Chelsea Investment Corporation has developed nearly 10,000 units of affordable housing at a cost of over $1.7 billion. The firm’s development portfolio includes urban infill, mixed-use, suburban inclusionary, acquisition rehab and rural developments. Approximately 20 percent of the units developed by Chelsea serve specialized populations, including seniors, farm workers, formerly homeless households, and individuals with physical and developmental disabilities. The company is one of the few fully integrated affordable housing developers in Southern California that offers turnkey development, general contracting, and property/asset management services. Chelsea is a long-term owner and operator and maintains a portfolio in excess of 5,000 affordable housing units. For more information, please visit www.chelseainvestco.com.   More information about Coachella is available at www.coachella.org.