A new affordable housing community with natural landscaping and community gardens has opened in Santa Ana.

The development, known as WISEPlace on Broadway, is to help address homelessness in Orange County, which has increased by 28% in the two years, according to the 2024 Point in Time Count.

Forty-seven studio apartments designated for individuals earning no more than 30% of the area median income are part of the 43,000 sq ft community, as well as one two-bedroom manager’s unit.

There is a welcoming outdoor courtyard with community gardens as well as natural landscaping on the site, designed by EPTDESIGN. Three raised beds in the garden allow residents to grow their own produce, providing an opportunity for those who live there to build community as well as harvest nutritious food.

“At EPTDESIGN, we believe that everyone deserves access to beauty, dignity, and nature—no matter their housing situation. Our work on permanent supportive housing projects is rooted in the idea that landscapes can be a foundation for healing, stability, and community,” says principal Stephen Carroll, ASLA, LEED AP.

Nonprofit WISEPlace has opened the permanent supportive housing community in partnership with Jamboree Housing Corporation, a nonprofit affordable housing developer.

“WISEPlace on Broadway is so much more than a building – it is a community where lives will be transformed,” said Brateil Aghasi, chief executive officer of WISEPlace. “This new permanent supportive housing development will not only provide a roof over someone’s head, but also offer the resources and support needed to rebuild lives and create lasting change.”

Twenty-five project-based vouchers have been issued by the City of Santa Ana to help subsidize rents, 15 of which have been set aside for survivors of domestic violence.

“This is a high-quality housing with a purpose,” stated Laura Archuleta, president and chief executive officer of Jamboree Housing Corporation. “WISEPlace on Broadway meets a critical need in Orange County by providing survivors of domestic violence and individuals overcoming homelessness with the stability and services they need to heal, move forward, and thrive.”