Simpson housing solutions breaks ground in Orange Cove, Calif. (Community Showcase).

Promising a better future for working families in the California farming community of Orange Cove, Simpson Housing Solutions broke ground on a 73-unit apartment community that will offer exceptionally large three-and four-bedroom plans at below-market rates.

Valle Verde Apartments is being developed by a partnership of Fannie Mae, Simpson Housing Solutions LLC, non-profit DECRO Corp. and the City of Orange Cove. The community is expected to be completed in spring 2004.

Set amid citrus groves and vineyards in the rolling farm country east of Fresno, Calif., Orange Cove is home to farm workers and other working families. The community, to be developed on a five-acre parcel at Second and H streets, will be convenient to public transit, retail and commercials services, social service centers, day care services and parks.

Rents will range from $364 to $630 per month for families earning between 45 percent and 60 percent of the Fresno County median income--$15,890 to $27,240 annually for a family of four.

Apartments will range in size from 1,030 to 1,200 square feet with up to four bedrooms and two full baths.

Amenities at Valle Verde will include a pool and spa, laundry facilities, barbeques, playground and tot lot, professional landscaping and a 2,400 square-foot community recreation room complete with a computer center with free Internet access and computer skills classes.

Individual apartment homes will feature built-in appliances, central heating and air conditioning, plush carpeting, mini-blinds and patios or balconies.

Fannie Mae provided $10.4 million equity investment in exchange for purchasing federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits allocated to the project through its partnership with Simpson Housing Solutions, a wholly owned division of Denver-based Simpson Housing Limited Partnership.