HUNTINGTON PARK : Housing to Offer Services to Seniors
An affordable-housing project expected to break ground this summer will offer a home and help to low-income seniors who may need assistance to continue to live independently.
As residents of the $16.4-million project, Rugby Senior Plaza, low-income individuals 62 and older will have access to basic medical services, transportation services, a daily nutrition program, and other social services that will be offered at the site. The property, on Rugby Avenue between Gage and Clarendon avenues, is now a public parking lot.
“The objective is to deliver additional services over and above housing to those of lesser means but greater needs,” said Craig Cordial, vice president of Marina del Rey-based Cordial Housing Inc., which is developing the project with the Bedford Group of Culver City.
About 25% of the project’s estimated 200 units would be set aside for residents who need daily assistance with housekeeping, laundry and food preparation. These services will be available for a fee that will be added to a tenant’s rent.
“Many seniors end up in nursing homes when they don’t need to be there,” said Cordial. “This kind of project provides a middle level and allows them to ‘age in place.’ . . . Instead of moving out of the building to a nursing home, they can move from a floor (set aside) for independent living to one for residential care.”
Rents will range from about $170 a month for a studio to $549 for a two-bedroom apartment.
The six-story structure will provide four floors of senior housing, one floor of parking for tenants and one for public parking.
“It’s something we’ve been trying to do for a couple years,” said Bill Chow, assistant city planner. “There aren’t many empty lots in Huntington Park to build affordable housing. We want to provide housing but we don’t want to lose parking.”
The project is being built with the help of $15.6 million in federal tax credits and with low-interest loans from the city, Cordial said. Groundbreaking is expected in August.
