Astoria Gateway Senior Apartments a success model in affordable housing

Published 5:00 pm Friday, October 31, 2008

A senior affordable housing facility in Astoria has become both a study in compassionate living and a statement about how a community can take care of its own.

Visitors and residents driving into Astoria on U.S. Highway 30 can’t help but pass by the Astoria Gateway Senior Apartments, in the east end Mill Pond neighborhood.

The building was completed two years ago and is now fully occupied. The facility accepts only low-income senior citizens as residents.

From the street, tidy balconies sport colorful fall decorations and potted plants. Inside, the picture is even more appealing.

“It’s like a luxury hotel,” said Mary Ann Miller, who manages the building for Legacy Management Group. “People call me the concierge.”

Miller seems to enjoy filling a role that’s part den mother and part events organizer for the seniors who live in the 41 apartments in the building.

In the building’s lobby, a gas fireplace beckons, alongside a holiday tree Miller decorates to suit the seasons year-round – one of her many duties as she watches over the people who live there.

Miller organizes events in the building’s inviting rooftop activities room, which has a spectacular view of the Columbia River. Participation in activities is completely voluntary, but there’s always something to do for those inclined to socialize. The building also has its own bus, which Miller uses to take residents shopping once a week, and for sightseeing excursions around the area.

“We go to Fred Meyer one week and Safeway the next,” she said, of residents’ regular shopping trips. “But people can also have a car here if they want.”

Tax credits make it possible

The inspiration for this successful, self-contained community is a company called Shelter Resources, Inc., based in Bellevue, Wash. Len Brannen is president of the company.

“The project was built by Astoria Gateway Associates,” he said. “It’s a Washington limited partnership, a group of investors.”

He said Shelter Resources has developed other comparable projects around the Northwest.

“We look at various communities where there is a need, compared to funding options,” he said. “When the Astoria site came up, it was a very good site.”

Brannen said the project was in the works for about four years before it was completed, as developers worked their way through the tax credit process.

“The project is designed for affordable [housing] tenants,” he said. “People who make under 60 percent of the area median income.”

Brannen said IRS code allows benefits to flow to investors in such projects. He said Shelter Resources worked with Oregon Housing and Community Services to access resources.

“Federal and state funds are available for low income housing tax credits,” he said.

Among legislation that makes subsidized projects like Astoria’s possible is the federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program, created by the 1986 Tax Reform Act.

The program encourages construction and rehabilitation of rental housing for lower income households, and offers credits on federal tax liabilities for 10 years. Individuals, corporations, partnerships and other legal entities may qualify.

Developers sell the credits to investors, who provide equity capital in return for economic benefits generated by the development.

At the state level, Oregon offers the Affordable Housing Tax Credit program, which makes it possible for lenders to decrease interest rates on affordable housing loans to developers. Applicants must demonstrate that the benefit of the tax credit will be entirely passed on to reduce rents for tenants.

Under the state program, residents of such projects must make less than 80 percent of the area median income, as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Brannen said while tax credit projects have benefits for investors, they are built to the same construction standards as any other housing project.

“We’re using the same builders and they don’t charge any less,” he said.

The general contractor for the Astoria Gateway project was Synergy Construction, a certified “Woman Owned Business” located in Woodinville, Wash.

The architect was Ronald L. Grimes of Medford, Ore.

Brannen said his company is exploring another housing project proposed for the lot next to the Astoria Gateway building. That proposal is so far slated to be affordable family housing.

“That’s been determined as the highest and best need by the city [of Astoria],” he said.

Brannen would like to build more senior housing in the area.

“But right now there is more political will to address workforce and family housing,” he said.

Astoria City Planner Rosemary Johnson said Shelter Resources has communicated with the city about plans for workforce housing in the Gateway neighborhood. She said so far the firm is still in the preliminary stages of arranging the project and has not submitted any paperwork to the city.

More senior affordable housing needed

Tell that to Miller, who already has a long waiting list of seniors who want an apartment in her building. She said she could easily fill a new facility with tenants if one were available. She’s sympathetic to the needs of low-income families with children, but also sees a serious need for more housing for seniors.

“I just want the town to know that we have some affordable housing and we need more,” she said.

Miller said most of the tenants in the Astoria Gateway project moved there from the surrounding area: Astoria, Warrenton, and Seaside. A few are from Portland, and a handful of residents hail from other states.

The project recruited tenants via the Astoria Senior Center and other venues, and also advertised nationally.

Miller’s employer, Legacy Management, LLC, manages 155 similar facilities in places like Alaska, Montana, Colorado, and Arizona, in addition to the Northwest.

She said all the apartments have modern conveniences like dishwashers and garbage disposals. Rents range from $242 to $437 a month for a 1-bedroom apartment, to $524 for a 924 sq. ft., 2- bedroom unit.

Nine of the tenants in the building are subsidized by NHA, the Northwest Housing Authority.

Income guidelines stipulate that single tenants must have incomes of $22,000 or less, and couples $25,800 combined income.

Miller said for most tenants in the Astoria Gateway project, the apartment will likely be their last home. She wants their golden years to be as enjoyable as possible. She said the building is a vital haven for residents.

“It’s beautiful and it’s comfortable,” she said of the building. “They can stay here as long as they can maintain an apartment. A senior can be safe, and unstressed about their living situation. Safe, secure and happy.”