La Mirada : Senior Housing Plan OKd

The City Council gave preliminary approval Tuesday to construction of a 163-unit senior housing project on La Mirada Boulevard.

After a public hearing, the council voted 5-0 to approve plans for the three-story building to be built on the grounds of the vacant First Baptist Church at 13001 La Mirada Blvd. The city bought the 3.6 acres for $1.5 million in March, 1985.

City Manager Gary Sloan said that if the development agreement is given final approval on Sept. 23, the property will be sold to St. Louis-based Love Real Estate Co., which will develop the retirement center.

As part of the agreement, Love Real Estate must rent a quarter of the center’s units to low- and moderate-income tenants for 10 years.

Sloan said the city is also awaiting a decision on its application for a $2.8-million construction grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to build a 50-unit, low- and moderate-income senior housing complex on Valley View Avenue near Adoree Street.

A city-sponsored study of La Mirada’s elderly showed that housing is needed for retirement-age people who want to move out of their single-family homes, he said.