AMCAL Multi-Housing Inc. Breaks Ground on Los Angeles Affordable Seniors Development

Panorama City, Calif.—AMCAL Multi-Housing Inc. has broken ground on Montecito Terraces, a 98-unit senior affordable housing development located in Panorama City, Calif.

The housing development was designed by Van Tilburg, Banvard & Soderbergh, Montecito Terraces, and is located on two sites across the street from one another. One site will have 29 units, while the other will have 69 units. In total, Montecito Terraces will consist of 78 one-bedroom and 20 two-bedroom apartments.

In addition to community amenities, including an open recreation courtyard, pool, outdoor garden terraces and two community rooms with a kitchenette and lounge, Montecito Terraces will offer seniors a variety of complimentary social services, including computer training, education, legal referrals, tax preparation referrals, and health and nutrition programs.

Montecito Terraces will replace older apartment buildings, and is AMCAL’s second affordable housing development in the San Fernando Valley. Twenty-eight units will be dedicated to households that earn 60 percent of the area median income (AMI), 48 units will be reserved for 50 percent AMI, 20 units will be reserved for both 40 percent and 30 percent AMI, and two units will be reserved for on-site staff.  The apartments will range in size from 528 square feet to 771 square feet.

“There is a lack of new, quality affordable housing for seniors in the Panorama City area of the City of Los Angeles, particularly housing that offers new, purpose-designed units along with programs and policies serving seniors,”Arjun Nagarkatti, president of AMCAL, tells MHN.

Montecito Terraces is located near an MTA Rapid Bus Route, as well as The Plant Shopping Center, the Casa Esperanza community center and Mission Community Hospital.

Montecito Terraces is AMCAL’s first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver-certified development. To conserve water, drought-tolerant and native plants will be used in the community’s landscaping, while high efficiency and low-flow toilets and faucets will be installed in each apartment. To reduce waste, unused construction material will be recycled. Locally produced products will also be used where possible.

The construction of Montecito Terraces is anticipated to create up to 342 jobs in local Panorama City businesses: 179 full-time construction jobs and 500 local short-term construction jobs.

The development is being financed with an allocation of over $13.3 million in 9 percent Low Income Housing Tax Credits in 2009, conventional debt and a combination of public funding sources, ranging from the Proposition 1C Infill Infrastructure Grant fund, American Recovery Reinvestment Act federal stimulus fund and the Los Angeles Housing Department and the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles. Equity has been provided by Hudson Housing Capital, and the construction and permanent financing lender is U.S. Bank.
Montecito Terraces is scheduled for completion in 2011.

“The keys [to financing the deal] were perseverance and determination, along with an experienced financing team and strong inter-agency cooperation,” notes Nagarkatti.