The Glendale Housing Authority will break ground on one of the largest affordable housing projects in California at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, March 14, at the project site, located at 515 Pioneer Drive.
The project is a part of the city’s $54 million housing investment initiative to provide affordable housing units to seniors and small families, agency officials said.
With an anticipated completion date at the end of 2025, the Glendale Housing Authority is heading the site’s development in partnership with Linc Housing and National CORE — two housing developers that the Housing Authority selected to develop the new construction development.
The groundbreaking announcement cements the end of city staff’s three-year planning process, which included the acquisition of land in 2019, which runs parallel to the 134 freeway, developer selection and numerous other elements.
Following the Housing Authority’s acquisition of the 2.8-acre plot along Pioneer Drive, plans for the 340-unit housing development began. The authority said it provided $28.4 million in subsidies to develop the approximately $168 million project, comprising 32 studios, 260 one-bedroom and 25 two-bedroom units with three two-bedroom resident manager units.
The two-to-five-story housing development is expected to consist of 100% affordable rental units reserved for low to extremely low-income seniors, aged 62 and older, and small families that have earned 30% to 80% of the area’s median income, officials said; 92 units will be reserved as affordable for seniors and 245 units will be reserved as affordable for small families.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Glendale’s median household income from 2017-2021 was reported as $74,488.
The housing project will provide 342 parking spaces in a two-level subterranean parking garage, including 35 electric vehicle-ready stalls. The project will feature all-electric appliances and will meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold rating from the U.S. Green Building Council.
In addition, the authority said, the project will provide 13,600 square feet of private open space and 37,750 square feet of common open space, including community centers, outdoor recreation stations, a tot lot playground, community gardens, outdoor courtyards with barbecue picnic areas, programmed rooftop decks and a walking path.
Site improvements include pedestrian enhancement amenities along the Kenilworth Avenue cul-de-sac and the existing pedestrian tunnel, which may include overhead lighting, surveillance, art applied to the pedestrian tunnel walls, benches, decorative pavers, trees and an enhanced entrance on the south end of the pedestrian tunnel.
Authority officials said financing for the project includes multifamily housing revenue bond proceeds through Bank of America construction lending, Measure S funds and other funding sources. Marketing of the units will take place approximately six months prior to the anticipated construction completion date.
In other housing updates, the authority said it has provided $15.05 million in subsidies to develop Citrus Crossing, a new construction, 127-unit, 100% affordable rental senior-housing project at 900 E. Broadway that is expected to be completed by June 2024. The $60 million project, which is 12 months into construction, consists of 87 studios, 39 one-bedroom units and a two-bedroom resident manager unit in a five-story structure above two levels of subterranean parking with 92 parking stalls.
The project is reserved for seniors ages 62 and older, earning 30% to 70% of the area’s median income, for a minimum of 72 years.
Adjacent to Citrus Crossing is Harrower Village, a 40-unit, 100% affordable rental senior-housing project at 912-920 E. Broadway and 117 S. Belmont St. The housing authority has provided $10.7 million in subsidies to develop the project, consisting of 14 studios, 25 one-bedroom units, and a two-bedroom resident manager unit. The project is an adaptive reuse and preservation of the historic Harrower Laboratory complex, more recently occupied by Tobinworld, which vacated the site in late 2019. Citrus Crossing will provide parking for the project.
The alley between Citrus Crossing and Harrower Village will be converted to a pedestrian paseo, accessible to the public during daylight hours. Harrower Village will be reserved for seniors ages 62 and older, earning between 30% and 60% area median income. The $30.2 million project is eight months into construction with expected completion no later than November 2023.
First published in the March 11 print issue of the Glendale News-Press.
