After almost 10 years in the making, the Sumida Gardens apartment complex opened in Goleta on Monday.

“It’s very exciting to see how well it’s turned out,” developer Michael Towbes told Noozhawk at the complex’s grand opening. “We suffered our frustrations along the way but we stuck with it and worked with the city council and the redevelopment agency. I think it’s been a win-win for us and for the community.”

Towbes credited Goleta leaders for their work on behalf of the 10-acre development northwest of the intersection of Patterson and Hollister avenues.

The ribbon cutting marked the opening of the first phase of the rental project, which is expected to handle some of the low- and very low-income housing requirements Goleta has. The rest of the development should become available later this year.

“I’d like to congratulate The Towbes Group for bringing an idea and seeing it come to completion,” Mayor Roger Aceves said.

Sumida Gardens, 122 Sumida Gardens Lane, is a 200-unit apartment complex in the city’s redevelopment area, consisting of one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Thirty-four apartments are earmarked for low- and very low-income households.

Plans to build rental housing on the site go back about 15 years, from a Santa Barbara County-approved plan for 176 affordable units to one with 200 units with 50 affordable apartments. An earlier Towbes plan called for 100 affordable units out of 200 total. The project received city council approval in 2007.

The Towbes Group in 2007 put in a General Plan amendment request to eliminate any inclusionary housing requirement for rental projects. State law, requiring at least 15 percent of units in a project in a redevelopment area be affordable, made the request infeasible. The 34 affordable units planned for by the developer exceed the minimum requirement by four units. The inclusionary units are subject to a requirement that will keep them affordable for the next 55 years, due in part to a $6.25 million subsidy from the city.

The affordable units will go for as low as $650 a month, while the market-rate rentals could get as high as $2,400 a month. Plans for the development also include a new intersection at Hollister, with a signal light, as well as a bus stop and recreation areas.

The project received strong community support, including from workforce housing advocates and business leaders who said the added housing would give commuters a chance to live where they worked while helping local businesses retain workers who might otherwise leave because of the high cost and scarcity of housing.

According to Towbes, there may be other projects to come.

“There are projects we’re hoping to work with the city on,” he said. “We hope it doesn’t take 10 years.”

— Noozhawk staff writer Sonia Fernandez can be reached at sfernandez@noozhawk.com.