W. Hollywood Plans Low-Income Apartments for People With AIDS : Housing: Officials say the project addresses a growing need as people with AIDS are living longer. The city plans to break ground in June.

West Hollywood city officials have approved plans to build a 22-unit, low-income apartment building reserved primarily for AIDS patients, the first facility of its kind on the Westside.

The West Hollywood Community Housing Corporation, a nonprofit organization funded by the city, intends to break ground on the Harper Avenue project by the end of June.

City officials and social services representatives view the $3-million project as a practical response to the longer life spans of people diagnosed with AIDS, compared to a decade ago. Although the number of AIDS cases in West Hollywood has increased annually since 1980, the mortality rate has dropped, according to county health statistics.

In 1981-1983, 96% of those diagnosed with AIDS-related infections had died by the end of the three-year period, the county’s AIDS Epidemiology Program-Surveillance Unit reports. The corresponding mortality rate for 1987-1989 was 57%.

Local health agencies say the drop is due in part to earlier diagnoses and the extensive use of the anti-viral drug AZT, certified by the Food and Drug Administration in 1985. Other drugs, such as Pentamadine and Bactrim, which prevent opportunistic infections often associated with the HIV virus, also have played a role.

Officials hope the Harper Avenue project will provide an alternative to hospitals and hospices for those AIDS patients healthy enough to live on their own. It also will help ease the financial burden on AIDS patients.

“As the needs of residents change, it is our responsibility to adapt,” said Debbie Potter, the city’s housing and economic development manager. “We see the Harper Avenue Project as a pilot program, a way to help AIDS patients stabilize their lives.” Technically, the apartments will be used for residents with “chronic life-threatening diseases” who earn less than $700 a month. Senior citizens and AIDS patients are the two groups in the city who fit the profile most often, housing officials said. But 20 of the 22 units will be reserved for AIDS patients.

As many as 35 AIDS patients in the city are now eligible, but that number could triple by June, 1992, when the units are expected to be completed, officials say.

The units, which will rent for $270 a month, will provide a number of special features. For example, bedrooms will have extra room for medical equipment. And an emergency call system will be installed throughout the building. There also will be a 1,000-square-foot common area for group meetings.

In addition, the building’s manager will act as a liaison between tenants and social service agencies.

“This is an innovative and inevitable approach to helping people with AIDS,” said Paul Zimmerman, the housing corporation’s executive director. “We are providing more sophisticated care in a less expensive setting. Ultimately, it will save public money.”

Still, not everyone in the city is pleased with the project. A small group of Harper Avenue neighbors has objected, citing problems during construction of the housing corporation’s last complex, a 17-unit facility for senior citizens that was completed in the past year on the same block. The group primarily objected to the noise from the construction, which often started as early as 7 a.m. on weekdays.

Twenty residents unsuccessfully appealed the plans for the new facility in late January, asking the City Council for a one-year delay.

“We are not against having this project. We know how much it is needed,” said Curtis Bridgeforth, who signed the petition. “But the construction has caused havoc. I’ve been here for four years, and for the last 2 1/2, I’ve been living with my streets blocked. It would be nice to know that we could live in peace for six months.”

Some neighbors object to the plan to demolish or move a 70-year-old house and several large trees on the site for the new project. Zimmerman said the housing corporation has offered to sell the house, which it owns, to its current tenants for $1, but the tenants would be responsible for the cost of moving it. The tenants say they have not decided whether they will buy the house.

Zimmerman also said that the largest of the trees, a pine in the front yard, will be preserved. He and others at the housing corporation say they they will go to great lengths to ensure that the concerns of Harper Avenue residents are addressed, noting that a full-time liaison will be appointed to carry complaints to subcontractors and city officials.

A delay beyond June 28 could cost the housing corporation $1 million in federal tax credits and threaten the project altogether under terms of the corporation’s federal grant, officials said.

City officials recognize that the yearlong construction process will be an inconvenience.

“We have had to weigh competing interests,” said Councilman Paul Koretz. “But I think everyone is in agreement. This project is obviously for the greater good of West Hollywood. It’s clear to me that Harper Avenue will be on the cutting edge of how we deal more humanely with AIDS patients.”