Housing Developers to Buy Option on Site

Developers planning to build a senior housing project in downtown Oxnard have agreed to purchase an option on the city-owned property while they apply for federal housing grants.

The Oxnard City Council, sitting as the Redevelopment Agency, agreed this week to sell to Broadway Towers Inc. an option on the 49,000-square-foot parcel it owns at 6th and Meta streets.

But the option, sold for $6,220, is good only until Oct. 15.

The developers plan to apply to the federal department of Housing and Urban Development for grant money available under its senior housing program before the option expires.

Any sale of the lot, which housed a rundown motel before it was purchased by the Redevelopment Agency, would be contingent on Broadway Towers being awarded the federal grant.

Barbara Macri-Ortiz, a staff attorney with Channel Counties Legal Services, said any affordable housing in Oxnard would be welcomed.

“It’s a project that is probably the most appropriate housing project for that site,” she said. “But it remains to be seen whether the developer can get the funding to pull off the project.”

The city “has a lot of making up to do” as far as providing affordable housing, Macri-Ortiz said. “They’re very far behind, but I’m hopeful they’re going to move in the right direction.”