Bay Area Senior Affordable Housing Checks Several Boxes
Creating opportunities for affordable places to live is vital to every community and Pauline Weaver Senior Apartments will have a positive impact with its one- and two-bedroom affordable homes.
FREMONT, CA—As a component of a larger master-planned development in the Warm Springs area, Pauline Weaver Senior Apartments at 47003 Mission Falls Ct. officially hung up its open sign late last week. The multifamily community formerly known as Mission Court is a 90-unit multifamily rental property designed for seniors aged 62 and older who earn between 30% and 50% of the area median income.
Pauline Weaver Senior Apartments is part of an affordable senior housing complex within a larger master-planned development in Fremont, which will include approximately 500 units of senior residential housing and other senior-focused amenities, GlobeSt.com learns.
On the site of a former office complex, the newest development sits on a 2.25-acre site at the corner of Warren Avenue and Mission Falls Court, near the I-880 freeway, transportation, shopping and services. It is located approximately one mile south of the Warm Springs BART station near amenities on Warm Springs and Mission boulevards.
The nonprofit developer is Eden Housing. KTGY Architecture + Planning provided architectural and design services.
“As the first piece of a greater age-qualified master plan, Pauline Weaver Senior Apartments sits across the street from a future senior center. This future amenity will not only enhance the lives of the residents living in this affordable community but also the future master plan,” said Jessica Musick, a principal in KTGY’s Oakland office. “The new community allows older low-income residents to remain in their community, close to family, shopping and services.”
The buildings U-shaped configuration creates an interior courtyard, as well as a sound buffer to Warren Avenue and the railway tracks. The courtyard is designed to be a natural extension of the community space, which includes a community room, fitness room and reading lounge/computer room. Together with the on-site manager’s and service coordinator’s offices, these amenities are centrally located within the building. The resident services office is located adjacent to the community room.
“The interior courtyard is an intentionally flexible space, designed as both a space for respite and relaxation, but will also function as an adaptable gathering and activity space for residents,” said KTGY principal Michael Gould.
Pauline Weaver, the property namesake, is a longtime advocate for affordable housing in California. She has been on the Eden Housing board of directors since joining in 1988. Weaver was an assistant public defender in Alameda County and the past president of both the National Conference of Women’s Bar Association and California Women Lawyers.
“I am so grateful to Pauline for her decades of service to Eden,” said Linda Mandolini, president of Eden Housing. “Her commitment to improving our community and the world have been personally inspiring, and I am thrilled that we are honoring her by naming this development after her.”
According to Eden Housing, the development has a unique financing structure (9% tax credit and 4% tax credit hybrid) that required significant coordination and partnership among all public and private partners. The investors are Enterprise Community Investment and Morgan Stanley. The financial partners are the city of Fremont, Housing Authority of the county of Alameda, county of Alameda, Enterprise Community Investment, Morgan Stanley, Chase, California Tax Credit Allocation Committee and California Debt Limit Allocation Committee.
“Creating opportunities for affordable places to live is vital to every community and Pauline Weaver Senior Apartments will have a positive impact on the city of Fremont,” said Cecile Chalifour, west division manager, community development banking for Chase.
The development has one- and two-bedroom apartment homes ranging from 575 square feet to 880 square feet. Of the total 90 units, 73 are one-bedroom units and 17 are two-bedroom units. All but one of the units are income restricted for 62 years or older. One two-bedroom unit is for the on-site property manager.
“There are relatively very few senior housing communities in the city of Fremont, especially considering the city’s population of nearly 235,000 as of 2017,” Musick tells GlobeSt.com.
As of March 29, all apartments are leased. Management received 1,091 applications out of 3,300 distributed and resident move-ins began in December of last year, Mandolini tells GlobeSt.com.
Musick says not only does the development offer affordable senior housing options, but it has many energy efficient aspects.
“Pauline Weaver Senior Apartments was designed to be energy efficient and exceeds Title 24 energy and resource efficiency thresholds, which provides a healthier home for the community’s residents. The new community incorporates green design elements that maximize energy and water efficiency, and makes use of recycled materials, Musick tells GlobeSt.com. “The new community also has solar photovoltaic panels to offset the common area electrical load, low VOC paints for indoor air quality, high-efficiency light fixtures and Energy Star appliances to reduce energy demand, and low flow toilets and showerheads, and drought-resistant landscaping to reduce water usage.”
In addition to Pauline Weaver Senior Apartments, KTGY has designed two other affordable residential communities in Alameda County on behalf of Eden Housing.
“The development sites are located in the Alameda Point Master Plan’s Site A area in Block 8 and will feature two separate residential buildings, a 70-unit apartment community targeting low-income families and a 60-unit apartment community for low-income seniors,” Musick tells GlobeSt.com. “KTGY is also working with Eden near the Warm Springs BART station on Metro Crossing–Block A1 and A2. These buildings are both family affordable and currently under construction.”