Manhattan Beach : Housing Proposal Declined

A proposal for a senior-housing project at the site of the Manhattan Beach Elementary School District’s headquarters fell apart this week when the City Council declined to help purchase the site.

Representatives from the Manhattan Beach Senior Housing Foundation, a nonprofit group formed to provide housing for elderly residents, asked the city to join them in purchasing the $3.15-million property for the proposed 100-unit apartment complex.

Millie Anderson, chairman of the foundation’s board or directors, said the group cannot afford the site without city help. The foundation had attempted to negotiate a deal with the district, which will move its headquarters from the site at 14th Street and Laurel Avenue to some vacant classrooms at Pacific School, but was unable to persuade the district to lower the price or to offer the site for lease rather than sale. The school board will open bids for the site on July 9.

The foundation asked the council to either buy the site from the school district and then lease it to the foundation for senior housing, or to contribute about $1.7 million toward the purchase price with a provision that the entire property would revert to city ownership at the end of a 40-year mortgage.

Anderson said the city needs affordable housing for its elderly residents. About 20 of the 100 units would be subsidized by the federal government, she said. The city currently has no senior citizens’ housing.

But the council members, saying the request came too late for them to give it serious consideration, voted to pass the proposal on to staff for review--effectively killing it because the district will open bids before the council meets again.