IRVINE, Calif.—As Irvine looks to make more than 1,000 apartment units more affordable for middle-income people through a new housing proposal, critics say it could have detrimental financial impacts on the city. “Middle-income housing,” also known as “workforce housing,” are residential units rented out at below-market rates to the “missing middle”—renters who are earning too much to qualify for traditional affordable housing, yet not enough to afford market rates, which in Irvine’s case will be 80 to 120 percent of the county’s area median income (AMI). On Feb. 22, the Irvine City Council passed a proposal to purchase the Royce Apartments with 520 units on Michelson Drive and convert them into workforce housing. The councilmembers voted 3–1 to work with the California Statewide Communities Development Agency (CSCDA) on moving the proposal forward. The process involves the city and the statewide development agency, which operates tax-exempt bond programs designed to create middle-income …