OXNARD : Housing Plan for Seniors Unveiled

A task force working with St. John’s Regional Medical Center unveiled a plan Tuesday to build 275 to 300 units of senior housing at the 15-acre hospital site at F Street and Doris Avenue.

Under the plan, the aging hospital buildings would be razed to make room for one-, two- and four-story buildings with one- to three-bedroom units. The condominiums and townhouses would range in price from $90,000 to $150,000.

The hospital and the developer, the Weissman Group of Northridge, must obtain approval on a General Plan amendment from the Oxnard Planning Commission and City Council before they can start work as they hope to in the fall.

Models would be ready for showing by spring, said Jack Stewart, who is working with the developer. The developer was chosen from among seven development groups that submitted proposals to the task force.

The F Street Task Force has been meeting since 1989 to find a use for the old buildings that the hospital staff and programs will leave in September, when they move into a new facility at Rose Avenue and Gonzalez Road. The old hospital started as a group of wooden structures 80 years ago.

The hospital plans to retain 25% to 35% of the units as rentals for its own use, although the complex is intended primarily for purchase by senior citizens, task force chairman Bernard D. Bernacchi said.

Dorothy Bright, an 84-year-old Doris Street resident, said she will be happy to see the hospital come down and a senior complex go up in its place.

A neighborhood resident for 50 years, she said: “I’m in favor of seeing it (St. John’s) knocked down and start over.” Bright was among 90 area residents who viewed a presentation of the proposal Tuesday.

But Gertrude Cash, 71, of F Street said she would rather see an urgent-care facility on the site.

“I think apartments are a problem no matter how they dress them up,” she said. “We’re a single-family street. I may be all wet, but I hate to see the tenor of our neighborhood change. It can’t help but change.”