LA HABRA : Motel to Provide Housing for Seniors
City Council members have authorized the purchase of the La Habra Inn for $575,000.
When escrow closes in the next couple of days, City Manager Lee Risner said, the city will begin converting the inn into affordable senior citizen housing.
The money comes from a Redevelopment Agency fund, which can only be used to provide affordable housing in the city, Risner said.
“The money can be used for no other purpose, and if we don’t use it, the state requires us to give it to the Orange County Housing Authority.”
Instead, the La Habra Inn, at 700 N. Beach Blvd., will become the city’s first affordable housing complex for senior citizens.
Risner said he expects the entire conversion, which includes adding kitchenettes to each of the inn’s 81 rooms, will cost about $500,000, and will be completed within 90 days.
Currently, the inn is owned by a Los Angeles bank, and business has dropped drastically in the last few years, Risner said.
“The business is not as good as it used to be,” he added. “This is not a motel town. We are not a so-called destination point.”
A private management company will manage the soon-to-be city-owned building, Risner said.
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