GLENDALE : Purchase of Lots OKd for Seniors Complex

The Glendale Housing Authority has approved the purchase of the final lots needed before the Salvation Army can build a 70-unit apartment complex for low-income senior citizens in southwest Glendale.

The city had negotiated for the last month to buy six lots at 311-329 W. Garfield Ave., next to two other lots on Windsor Avenue already owned by the Salvation Army.

Immediately after approving the purchases Tuesday, the city also authorized resale of the lots to the Salvation Army. The charity was required to have control of an assembled site by today to apply for a grant from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. The federal grant is expected to pay the bulk of the proposed $7-million Silvercrest Senior Housing Project.

The city agreed to pay about $1.5 million to acquire the six lots and will spend an estimated $280,000 in redevelopment tax revenue to relocate a dozen families living on the properties. In all, the city has pledged to spend about $2.1 million on the project by also contributing to amenities not funded by HUD, such as balconies and underground parking.

In the action Tuesday, the Housing Authority agreed to pay $200,000 each for property at 313 and 315 W. Garfield Ave. and $365,000 for a multiunit rental property at 323 W. Garfield. Tenants have been given up to four months to find other housing.

Construction of the senior citizens project is not expected to begin for more than a year and will require another year to complete, officials said.