500 new affordable apartments to be built in Visalia

VISALIA, Calif. (KFSN) -- The City of Visalia is growing, so there is a demand for more homes, especially affordable ones.

Visalia Mayor Steve Nelsen says several areas of town will soon look very different with apartments.

"I've been here for a number of years, and it's amazing. We are now probably at 144,000," says Nelsen.

That's the number of people now living in Visalia, a number growing thanks to large corporations like Amazon hiring hundreds of employees quickly.

Mayor Nelsen says with that growth comes demand for affordable homes.

"We have a lot of growth in the industrial park, a lot of starting positions, Amazon, UPS and some others but can you afford that 360k median price range for a house so apartment comes into play, what we call multi-family units," says Nelsen.

Nelsen says the city has recently approved several building permits, including two large multi-family projects going through the city site plan review process.

One is the Caldwell Apartments, located on Lovers Lane and Caldwell Avenue.

The other is Packwood Apartments on Demaree Street, south of Caldwell.

Both projects total about 500 units.

"It's planned out, I think we've done our diligence in making sure we have housing for everyone, and we are staying on course, and I think it's working out well for the city," says Nelsen.

Nelsen says even with these new affordable apartments, he's concerned people will struggle to become homeowners as prices continue to rise.