City Plans to Use Vacant Houses for Homeless : Glendale: Officials say structures intended for stalled seniors project would be refurbished. Neighbors say they want them torn down.

What started two years ago as a plan to build apartments for low-income seniors has turned into a run-down “ghost town” that may soon become emergency shelter for the homeless.

In 1993, the city Housing Authority paid about $2 million for six houses near Central Avenue and Garfield Street to make way for a 75-unit senior housing project. But the plans were delayed, first when one family contested the city’s offer for their house, and again last year when the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development rejected the city’s request for federal funding.

Now residents say they want something done about the vacant houses in their southwest Glendale neighborhood that are surrounded by a chain-link fence and fast becoming dilapidated.

“Our property values have dropped because of this. It’s an eyesore,” said Henry Di Paolo, 42, whose home is adjacent to the property. “You get the feeling that this is a mistake the city made two years ago and now they don’t know what to do about it.”

The city still has high hopes of building the Silvercrest Senior Housing Project, a three-story building that would be managed by the Glendale chapter of the Salvation Army. The charity is also donating two pieces of land to the project and will help the city reapply to HUD this week for a $7-million grant to cover construction costs.

But even if the grant is approved, it could take years before it is designed and built. Di Paolo said the neighbors have asked the city to tear down the houses in the interim and create a temporary park.

“Even with all the inconvenience that would create, it would still be better than staring at . . . empty houses. [The city] put a fence up around them a few months ago to keep transients out, but you still see people going in there.”

City officials admit they have only recently decided what to do with the property in the short term. Madalyn Blake, director of community development and housing, said plans are under way to refurbish each of the six city-owned houses and use them as “transitional shelters” for needy families at risk of becoming homeless.

The renovations will be paid for with about $90,000 taken from a special city fund for low-income housing. Lutheran Social Services, a charity that has worked with the city on other homeless programs, will supervise the shelters and be paid with county grant funds.

“These would be homes for families who are trying to get back on their feet again,” Blake said. “There will be very strong support services in the program, with a case manager on the site to help people find jobs and get their lives on track.”

Blake said the city is “very concerned” about the condition of the houses and hopes to have them all refurbished by the end of the year.

But there is also the possibility that HUD could again deny funding for the senior housing project, in which case the shelters would remain indefinitely, officials said.

“We’re very hopeful that it’s going to be funded, but we have no way of knowing,” said Floyd Bacon, coordinator of the housing project with the Salvation Army. “It’s a competitive process. They receive many applications and they judge them based on the needs involved.” HUD gave “no clear reason” why the first application was denied, Bacon added.

Seniors hoping to land a spot in Glendale’s subsidized housing programs typically have a long wait. About 3,000 people are on the waiting list for for one of the city’s 270 apartments. Another 1,000 people are waiting for federal housing vouchers for the elderly, said Beth Stochl, a city housing administrator.

“Silvercrest is definitely a priority because this is a continual need for Glendale,” Stochl said. “We’ve always had a fairly high percentage of the population that is elderly, and right now it’s around 13%.”