Pact Awarded for Carmelitos Housing Units

A $6.5-million contract has been awarded by the county Board of Supervisors for construction of 155 housing units for senior citizens at the county-owned Carmelitos housing project in Long Beach.

Shapell Housing Inc. will construct the housing units, a senior center and a community center on vacant land in the low-income housing project, which is being renovated to replace dilapidated housing.

County officials said the senior citizen housing project is the last phase in a $24-million reconstruction project at Carmelitos. It will be the first housing in Carmelitos designed especially for the elderly, officials said.

The contract, awarded Tuesday, is subject to approval by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Shapell Housing Inc. offered the lowest bid among four companies interested in the project. Also bidding was Alpha Construction Co., which is handling the current renovations at Carmelitos.