This SLO County city is adding more than 70 senior affordable units. Do you qualify?
A new source of affordable housing for seniors is rising behind one of Atascadero’s existing multi-family affordable residences.
Behind California Manor — a 95-unit senior affordable housing complex located at 10165 El Camino Real — two new structures are entering the back half of their construction phase, according to Sanger-based developer Micon Real Estate.
Micon founder and CEO Mike Condry said after his company acquired the California Manor property in 2011, he began exploring ways to utilize the roughly two acres of space behind the existing residences.
The result: California Grand Manor Apartments, a pair of three-story buildings totaling 76 units of affordable housing, which will available to seniors over the age of 62 and people with disabilities, Condry said.
While the project will bear many similarities in appearance and name to the original California Manor project, Condry said the new units will serve a different subsection of the San Luis Obispo County senior population.
Here’s what you can expect from the newest affordable project in progress — and whether you qualify to apply.
Do you qualify for California Grand Manor Apartments?
The project serves people who make anywhere between 30% and 80% of the area median income, and offers a mix of 12 studio apartments, 57 one-bedroom units and six two-bedroom units, accorded to Condry.
On average, the project’s units will serve people who make an average of 55% of the area median income, which for a one-person household was $76,450 in 2022, according to the California Department of Housing and Community Development.
Condry said while the project is an expansion on California Manor, residents won’t get the same rental assistance afforded by USDA housing vouchers used on the original project.
Those vouchers ensure that residents pay no more than 30% of their income as rent and utilities, and supplement residents who struggle to meet that requirement, Condry said.
Because the USDA isn’t involved in the new expansion — instead receiving financial support from the California Housing Finance Authority — residents will pay anywhere from $574 at the lowest income level for a studio apartment to as much as $1,970 for a three-bedroom at the highest income level, Condry said.
Like the existing California Manor project, the expansion will feature internal courtyards and shared spaces, along with activity rooms, tenant storage, a community patio and a laundry room, according to Micon’s website.
When will construction finish?
All told, the expansion will cost around $27 million to bring to life, Condry said.
Construction started on the project in August 2023, Condry said, and is expected to be complete around the end of September this year, with marketing and applications getting underway in the coming months.
“We’re surrounded by multi-family or higher density housing,“ Condry said. ”We’ve had support for the project from the outset and we’re doing well — I think it’s going to be an asset to the community.”
This story was originally published March 5, 2024 at 10:00 AM.
