Church Group Wants Goode House : Seniors: If deal for partial city funding goes through, restoration of the historic site and construction of low-income housing for senior citizens could begin by February.

Southern California Presbyterian Homes proposes to take over the long-delayed project to restore the historic Goode House in Glendale and build housing for senior citizens around it.

City officials on Tuesday pledged to use local tax dollars to help the nonprofit corporation buy the project from a private developer who has been unable to obtain financing for the senior citizen complex.

The proposed sale is the latest twist in the tangled history of the 103-year-old house, which has been vacant for years and is deteriorating.

The Glendale Housing Authority earlier this year had agreed to spend up to $750,000 in city money to help developer Joe Ayvazi of the Cedar Broadway Partnership on a $3.85 million project to restore the house and build a 40-unit apartment complex around it for low-income senior citizens. The house would be used as a recreation center for senior citizens.

But Ayvazi said a series of private lenders have turned down his requests for a construction loan. He said he entered into negotiations two weeks ago with Glendale-based Southern California Presbyterian Homes to take over the project.

“They have a lot of expertise and access to other sources of funds that a private person like me does not,” Ayvazi said in an interview.

The Housing Authority on Tuesday unanimously authorized city officials to open new negotiations with Presbyterian Homes for partial city funding of the project. If a deal is reached, restoration of the house and construction of the senior complex could begin by February, said Madalyn Blake, city director of community development and housing.

“I am sorry that I have not been able to make the project happen,” Ayvazi said. “Presbyterian Homes and the city have all my blessings and all my support. I will do everything I can to make this project become a reality.”

Marc Herrera, director of home administration for Presbyterian Homes, called preservation of the Goode House and development of a senior complex “an intriguing project.” The corporation operates 12 low-income senior citizen complexes in Southern California, including four in Glendale. It is building three more, two of which are in Glendale.

One of them is the Palmer House, where construction began last month on a $2.1-million, 22-unit development. It is the first senior citizen project to be built in Glendale without federal subsidies. Glendale is contributing about $1 million in tax revenues from its redevelopment zone to help pay for that project.

Herrera said financing of the Goode House project may be similarly structured. State law requires that all cities set aside 20% of their property taxes from redevelopment zones for low- and moderate-income housing. But most cities don’t know what to do with the money, Herrera said.

“Glendale is in the forefront of spending their funds to provide affordable senior housing,” the Presbyterian Homes official said.

The landmark Goode House at 119 N. Cedar St. is Glendale’s last example of Queen Anne/Eastlake architecture still on its original site. It was the residence of Edgar D. Goode, a pioneer businessman who led the city’s incorporation drive in 1906.

Ayvazi purchased three lots that include the house in 1986 and 1987 after several proposals to demolish or move the home were rejected by the City Council because of opposition by the Glendale Historical Society. The uncertain fate of the house triggered the city’s formation of the Historical Preservation Commission, which can temporarily halt demolition of landmark structures.

Vandalism in recent years has left the house in poor condition; some officials jokingly describe it as being held together by termites.

But the council on Tuesday was buoyed by the Presbyterian Homes preservation plan. “I hope they do it before the termites stop holding hands,” said Councilman Dick Jutras.