Bakersfield housing developer Sage Equities has begun site work in preparation for its fourth market-rate apartment community in downtown’s Eastchester neighborhood, this time in partnership with a Fresno company.
Eastbank Flats is planned to be a three-story, 50-unit complex with a resort-style pool, dog park, elevator, fully equipped wellness center and interior corridors. It will be located a block north of Truxtun Avenue along Mill Creek at the longtime home of Congregation B’nai Jacob, which will be the focus of a small monument at the site.
The project represents something of a shift for Sage, whose three previous apartment communities — all similarly upscale apartments in Eastchester — were funded in partnership with local investors. The only other instance of Sage partnering with another developer, instead of individual investors, is the 42-unit Greyhound Flats development proposed to begin construction next year in hand with Bakersfield’s Mojibi family.
Managing Partner Anna Smith said by email Sage has long admired the work of Fresno’s Lyles family, who she said shares Sage’s values and vision.
Lyles Construction Group, which includes heavy-civil and utility contractor W. M. Lyles Group, is among California’s oldest family- and employee-owned construction companies. It has built more than 1,800 residential units, including multiple apartment buildings. The firm’s real estate branch manages and develops its property holdings.
Smith wrote, “Partnering with the Lyles family brings their deep understanding of how to executive successful construction projects with a focus on long-term investment and new strategies to navigate the unique complexities of infill development.”
Construction of Eastbank will be handled by Wallace & Smith General Contractors, while another Bakersfield firm, Cater Design Group, has been named the project’s architect. Sage intends to manage the property.
Besides Greyhound Flats, Sage has one other market-rent rental community pending downtown: Cléo, a 34-unit rental community proposed across O Street from the 144-unit 17th Place Townhomes it debuted with in 2017 and remains the only development the firm has sold.
Eastbank is being built at 600 17th St., the farthest south of its existing apartments. Sage said the location will give residents there a waterfront window along what was once the east bank of the original Kern River diversion through Bakersfield.
For more than 60 years the site was home to the city’s first local Jewish congregation. B’nai Jacob’s members sold the property to Sage in 2022 as part of a move to another location.
Smith and her husband, Sage principal Austin Smith, said in a news release Eastbank is proof the community can accomplish great things when it works together. They said the development will build on the success of 17th Place, 49-unit The Cue at Q and 18th streets and 40-unit 918 at Chester at 20th and P streets.
“Many more people want to experience an active urban lifestyle in Bakersfield,” they said, “and we look forward to fill the need to walkable urban housing in the heart of our city.”