IRVINE : Apartment Complex Geared for Disabled

Groundbreaking today will mark construction of a 40-unit apartment complex for the disabled on Harvard Avenue next to the San Diego Creek Channel.

The low-income apartment complex is a joint project of the Dayle McIntosh Center for the Disabled and Michigan-based Cooperative Services Inc. When the Access Irvine project is finished next fall, it will be the third set of apartments in Orange County built specifically for the physically handicapped.

Most of the $4.2 million for the project came from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Other funding came from the Irvine Co., the Irvine Health Foundation, the Orange County Housing Authority, the city of Irvine and several private foundations, said Peg Hall, a spokeswoman for the McIntosh center.

Access Irvine will feature 36 one-bedroom apartments and four with two bedrooms. All units will be wheelchair accessible and feature amenities such as roll-in showers, adjustable countertops, Braille markings on ovens and thermostats, blinking-light smoke detectors and emergency call buttons monitored 24 hours a day. The units are designed to allow low-income handicapped singles and couples to live independently.

To be eligible, residents must earn less than $18,250 a year for singles or $20,900 for couples. Rents will be on a sliding scale based on income.

Tenants will be chosen on a first-come basis, although applications will not be accepted until next year, Hall said. Anyone interested in applying should call the McIntosh center at (714) 772-8285 or 772-8366 (TDD).