Construction is underway for a nearly $30-million affordable housing development in Fountain Valley - reportedly the Orange County city's first project of that type in more than 16 years.

The Prado Family Homes project, which is being developed by Related California, will rise from a nearly two-acre site at 16790 S. Harbor Boulevard.  Plans call for the construction of 50 one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments - ranging from 500 to 1,000 square feet in size - and amenities such as a community kitchen, a laundry facility, outdoor play areas, and workout equipment.

“Southern California is facing an extreme housing shortage, and projects like Prado Family Homes are essential in providing more affordable housing options for area families,” said Bill Wilhelm, president of R.D. Olson Construction, the project's general contractor.

The project, which is being designed by a team that includes DNA Architecture + Design, Inc. and Mannigan Design, Inc., which will consist of five different buildings ranging from one to three stories in height.

Completion of the Prado Family Homes is expected in early 2022.

The development, which the Los Angeles Times reports is Fountain Valley's first affordable housing complex in 16 years, is rising on a site next to the Santa Ana River that previously developed with a recreation vehicle and boat storage lot

Related California, which is perhaps best known for large mixed-use projects such as The Grand in Downtown Los Angeles, is also a prolific builder of affordable housing.  The company completed work on a $24-million senior housing complex in Hyde Park last year, and is also the developer behind a planned rebuild of the Rose Hills public housing facility in Montecito Heights.