In-fill projects are often a win-win for cities like Ceres.

For one thing, much needed housing is constructed for those unable to find it.

Secondly, vacant weed-covered lots are filled with family life.

Such is the case with the building of 28 multiple-family unit apartment complex behind the Richland Shopping Center. The 1.2-acre project located at 2125 Moffet Road broke ground in September 2024 and is expected to be ready for occupancy in summer, maybe as early as July.

The $6.8 million complex consists of four two-story buildings with each apartment occupying approximately 875 square feet with two bedrooms and two bathrooms.

The apartments will be rented at market rates, likely around $2,200 per month.

“If someone wanted to put an application in now at our office, first come  first served, I think we’ll be between $2,200 and $2,300,” said Harinder Toor, president of Interjit S. Toor Construction. “I don’t think there’s going to be more than $2,300, $2,400 because the market has gone considerably soft. Houses are sitting on the market longer, interest rates are still up there and people have a hard time right now.”

Toor’s office is located at 2351 Tenaya Drive in Modesto, near the Modesto Airport tower.

Toor won approval for the project in November 2021 but it almost didn’t happen due to concerns over traffic congestion that already exists at times close to Carroll Fowler Elementary School and Mae Hensley Jr. High. A change of the property’s designation in the General Plan from Community Commercial to High Density Residential was required as well as a rezone from Community Commercial to High Density Multiple-Family Residential (R5).

City planners argued the apartments would generate fewer vehicle trips than had it been eventually developed with businesses.

Some felt the project didn’t have enough onsite parking but it does meet the city’s minimum parking requirements. A total of 56 parking spaces along the north property line will serve the complex. A gated emergency access will consist of a 25-foot-wide path on the south side. A six-foot-tall perimeter block wall will shoulder the west and south property lines.

Toor said construction of the apartment complex was delayed by high interest rates for a time.

His company is also building a 24-unit apartment complex at 1192 Norwegian Avenue in Modesto and working approval on a 10-unit on F Street in Waterford.