Work Begins On New Housing Project at Former Santa Maria Drive-In Theater

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) - Initial construction has started on the long-planned low-income housing development that will be located at the site of the former Santa Maria drive-in theater.

Located on Santa Maria Way where Hi-Way Drive-In operated for more than four decades, the project is called Skylight Homes and is being developed by People's Self-Help Housing.

Once completed, Skylight Homes will include for-purchase 49-home single-family subdivision with 16 homes set aside for farmworker households.

"These are single family homes," said Ken Trigueiro, People's Self-Help Housing CEO/President. "They're going to be really nice fit right into the neighborhood. This is great that we can produce 49 homes for homeownership. It's more and more common to do rental housing these days because it's a little more affordable, but we're happy to be able to do homeownership. The demand is super high for both forms, though. For example, we have over 6,000 households on our waitlist in Santa Barbara County for about 1,000 units or so."

Recently, constructions crews have been on the close to nine-acre site, pulling up concrete and asphalt, as well as audio cables.

"We are excited," said Emily Baranek, People's Self-Help Housing Senior Construction Manager. "We recently pulled permits for site work and are beginning site exploration and demo. Our grading contractor is starting to pull up some of the old infrastructure that was associated with the drive in movie theater project in preparation for site work in anticipation of 49 new homes."

The work marks the first step in a construction process that is expected to take between 14 to 18 months before the first residents are able to move in.

"It's a big project for the organization," said Baranek. "It's a big project for the city, and it's a big, big project for affordable housing in general. 49 new single family detached for sale homes for affordable, middle income buyers is really exciting."

For more information about Skylight Homes and how to submit an application for potential purchase, click here to visit the project webpage on the People's Self-Help Housing official website.