Refinancing for up to $45 million approved for Carlsbad affordable housing

Carlsbad's 148-unit Laurel Tree Apartments, an affordable housing complex built in 1999, has been approved for up to $45 million in tax-free bonds to refinance and rehabilitate the property.

The bond money will allow the owners, the nonprofit Metropolitan Area Advisory Committee, to replace flooring, repair drywall, remodel kitchens and make other improvements. The approval also restricts the rentals to low-income tenants for an additional 55 years.

Also included in the renovations are the complex's leasing and management offices, a business center, a community room with a kitchen, an exercise room, laundry facilities, and an outdoor courtyard, picnic area and vegetable garden. External improvements will include new roofs, stucco, paint, deck repairs and accessibility.

Metropolitan, also known as MAAC, operates seven affordable housing complexes in San Diego County. The Carlsbad apartments are on Laurel Tree Lane, south of Palomar Airport Road and east of Aviara Parkway.

Carlsbad loaned MAAC a total of $700,000 in 1994 and 1996 to help build the project, which satisfies state requirements for affordable housing. MAAC paid off the city loans in 2014, which makes the project eligible for refinancing.

The refinancing allows MAAC to pay off more than $37 million in previous tax-free bonds on the project as well as to secure additional money for the refurbishment. The bonds require the city's approval, but the city is under no responsibility or liability to repay the bonds.

Carlsbad has more than a dozen all-affordable rental projects ranging from 12 apartments to as many as 344 apartments. Each complex is privately managed and has its own application process, income restrictions and wait list.

For more information about available housing, visit the city's website at www.carlsbadca.gov .

This story originally appeared in San Diego Union-Tribune .