GARDEN GROVE : Bond Issue Is Boon to Senior Housing

A bond issue that will result in 20% of the units in a major senior-citizens housing project being rented at reduced rates has been approved by the Garden Grove Housing Authority.

The City Council, acting as the Housing Authority, last week approved a $12-million bond issue to benefit the 178-unit Valley View Senior Villas currently being constructed on the east side of Valley View Street south of Chapman Avenue.

Greg Devereaux, the city’s housing director, said that under governmental guidelines 20% of the units (about 35) will be rented at reduced rates to people earning 50% or less of the county median income.

Those units would cost $492 a month for one-bedroom apartments and $554 a month for two-bedroom apartments. The balance of the units are expected to rent at a monthly market rate of $635 for one-bedroom units and $875 for two-bedroom units.

The bond issue allows the city Housing Authority to serve as a “pass-through” financing vehicle, with the actual loan made by Wells Fargo Bank. The bond issue also allows the developer to get a lower mortgage rate, according to Devereaux, a rate he estimates at about 8.25%, two points lower than the market rate.