Financing to Delay Housing for Seniors

Construction of the $9-million Oak Creek senior housing project, which city officials hoped would commence this month, will probably be postponed until this summer, a city official said.

The financing for the project has yet to be finalized, which is causing the construction delay, said Mark Asturias, the city’s manager of housing and redevelopment.

“It’s pretty typical of an affordable housing deal,” he said. “Most people do not realize that when you go out to build a standard market project, you as a developer are going to go to a single lender, get your loan and build the project. When you’re trying to do an affordable housing project, you’re typically dealing with maybe four lenders to make the deal work.”

The Oak Creek project involves Edison Capital of Irvine, Bank of America, the California Housing Finance Authority and the city. Edison Capital, the developer, will spend $2 million of its money and obtain the rest through the California Housing Finance Authority. The city is pledging $1.63 million for the project, $1 million of which will come from a federal government program on affordable housing. The city will get the rest through its housing fund. The bank is providing a $4-million construction loan.

The three-level senior facility will have 57 affordable units. Forty-six of the units will be one-bedroom apartments, while the rest will have two bedrooms. Rent, which includes utilities, is estimated to be $715 for a one-bedroom unit and $852 for two-bedroom units. Project construction will take about 10 months, Asturias said. Many Mansions will operate and manage the facility.