GARDEN GROVE : City OKs 51-Unit Housing Project for Senior Citizens

The City Council this week unanimously approved a proposed 51-unit seniors housing project on the northeast corner of Nelson Street and Acacia Parkway.

The housing project will be built on a vacant 1.6-acre lot that developer SWACO Partnership has acquired from the city in exchange for a slightly more than half of an acre of property south of Acacia Parkway and east of Nelson Street.

The half-acre parcel currently has a 12-unit apartment, but city officials plan to tear down the building and develop the property for commercial purposes. Tenants in the 12-unit apartment are expected to move to the housing project once it is completed, officials said.

“This is a nice Christmas present,” said Art Schatzeder, 76, a retired Cypress city engineer, who is developing the project with his partner, Telesforo Alvarez, 61, also a retired engineer.

The project will be financed by a $3.8-million loan from the California Housing Finance Agency, Schatzeder said. He expects construction to begin by June.

Of the proposed 51 rental units, 45 will be one-bedroom apartments, and six will have two bedrooms.

Hilda M. Veturis, the city’s housing coordinator, said the project would cost the city $245,000, which include expenses to relocate tenants of the 12-unit apartment.

In addition, the city’s Agency for Community Development has extended a $750,000, 30-year deferred loan to Schatzeder and his partner through the federal HOME program, Veturis said. The money will be used to pay for developer fees, traffic mitigation fees and other charges associated with construction, she said.

Veturis said that the loan will be forgiven if the developer agrees to set aside 11 units for single seniors with income not exceeding $20,600 a year and the remaining 40 units to seniors with annual incomes of no more than $27,000 a year.

The project will generate at least 50 construction jobs and allows the city to comply with state requirements to provide affordable housing to seniors, Veturis said.