It will be developed on a 5.9-acre infill site along Olive Drive, near the intersection of Richards Boulevard, bisected by Hickory Lane, three-quarters of a mile east of the campus and less than a half-mile from Davis' downtown business district. The proposed infill project is immediately south of the Union Pacific Railroad tracks and the Davis Amtrak station. The project site and general vicinity are within the East Olive Drive sub-area of the Gateway/Olive Drive Specific Plan.

Surrounding development includes the Lexington Apartments, the Arbors Apartments, Cesar Chavez Plaza and a self-storage facility located east of the site, commercial developments and a mobile home park to the west of the project site and medium-density residential developments and automotive uses to the east of the project site. A chain-link fence, installed by Union Pacific, separates the project site from the tracks. Beyond the railway is the Old East Davis community, which contains a mix of residential and commercial uses. PG&E's Davis substation (236 K St.) is located north of the project site, across the train tracks. Interstate 80 is located to the east of the site, GlobeSt.com learns.

UC Davis has 38,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The city of approximately 70,000 residents historically has had a limited supply of residential properties available for rent due to slow-growth policies and lengthy approval processes. The residential vacancy rate currently stands at a minuscule 0.2%.

As such, the site is one of the last developable lots in Davis. Acquired by HighBridge in 2015, it has long been underutilized, consisting largely of undeveloped land along with seven single-family homes, three uninhabitable cottages and a 14-room motel rented as apartments, all of which were built in the 1940s and 1950s.

“Redeveloping this underutilized property will provide much-needed relief to a supply-stressed market at a crucial time,” said Paul Gradeff, managing director of HighBridge Properties.

To address the affordability needs of students, Lincoln40 will offer LincolnLift, a student rental-assistance program. Unlike traditional affordable-housing programs, which are not geared toward students, LincolnLift will offer reduced monthly rents to students only based on 50% to 60% of the local area's median household income. The program will be available for up to 10% (71 beds) of the property's student residents.

HighBridge Properties created LincolnLift to help meet the city's substantial need for affordable housing. After eliciting input from students at both UC Davis and nearby Woodland Community College, the firm developed a program designed specifically for college students, who typically are unable to qualify for traditional affordable housing programs.

“With LincolnLift, we've developed an innovative affordable-housing program exclusively for student renters that we think is one of the first, if not the first, in the nation,” Gradeff tells GlobeSt.com. “We are delighted to provide assistance to disadvantaged students in Davis, who have been constantly challenged to find a safe and affordable living environment during their college years. Property owners, developers and municipalities must work together to address the affordability problems faced by our younger generations. Their need for housing is as great as the families that traditional affordable housing programs typically serve.”

Vanessa Errecarte, CEO of Erreco Strategies, which helped HighBridge develop LincolnLift, noted that a recent University of California report estimated that 5% of students throughout the state's university system have either “couch-surfed,” lived on the street or found temporary shelter in vehicles, motels or campgrounds at some point since enrolling in college. Applying that percentage to UC Davis' enrollment suggests that 1,900 UC Davis students have been similarly affected.

LincolnLift beds will be fully integrated within the rental community, with no distinction between them and beds rented at market rates in terms of access to in-unit and community amenities. The program will be permanent.

Lincoln40 apartment units will be fully furnished and available in three-, four- and five-bedroom/bathroom floor plans. The property will feature private study areas as well as other in-unit and common-area amenities, such as a fitness facility, a game room, a café lounge, an outdoor swimming pool with cabanas, and outdoor lounges with barbecue stations and gas fire pits.

With bicycling a popular transit mode in Davis, Lincoln40 will provide secured bike storage space for every tenant as well a bike-maintenance facility. On-site bike- and ride-sharing programs also will be available. The building itself is designed to achieve LEED Gold equivalency for energy efficiency and other green-building features.

HighBridge Properties is a real estate investment and development firm that acquires, develops and operates innovative off-campus student-housing and other multifamily properties geared toward Millennials and Generation Z in US markets.