8 FAMILIES GET NEW HABITAT IN BURBANK.

Byline: Harrison Sheppard Staff Writer

With seven people crammed into a two-bedroom apartment in Van Nuys, the Serranos are a family desperately in need of space.

``It's really hard with so many people and one restroom,'' said patriarch Mauricio Serrano, 34. ``They don't have any privacy. They don't have a place to play.''

But next week, thanks to Habitat for Humanity, the Serranos will move into a brand new four-bedroom home in Burbank.

The nonprofit organization just finished building the eight-unit Burbank Elms development on Elmwood Avenue and is selling the homes to eight families for a below-market $100,000 each, payable over 30 years with a 1 percent down payment and a no-interest loan.

The project represents a trial run of sorts leading up to Habitat's largest development ever in the San Fernando Valley, scheduled to break ground in November, said executive director Terri-Lei Robertson. Habitat, in the Valley since 1990, is planning a 53-unit development in Pacoima that will be built in phases over a number of years, Robertson said.

Sunday, the eight families joined Habitat and local officials to celebrate the opening of Burbank Elms with a concert, open house and blessings from two clergymen.

The families were especially glad to finally be moving in because the project was completed almost a year late.

Unlike most of Habitat's developments, Burbank Elms was beset by construction and funding problems. A company that was supposed to have donated $50,000 in electrical wiring didn't come through, delaying the work by several months, and then volunteers who installed the wiring did not follow Burbank building codes, so it had to be torn out and redone. The project was originally slated for completion in November 1998.

In July, the Burbank City Council had to bail out the project, voting to contribute an additional $330,000 to the organization, on top of the land and other support it had already donated.

But none of those problems was evident Sunday as the families wandered around each of the new homes, admiring the new paint and carpeting and especially eyeing the extra breathing room.

``Thank God we got this house,'' said Serrano, who 18 months ago was in even tougher conditions living in a one-bedroom apartment.

To be selected for the homes, the families must be earning between 20 percent and 50 percent of the median income for the area, and are required to put in 500 hours of sweat equity work in building their own homes.

Besides marking the start of a new life for eight families, Sunday's ceremony also took notice of another step in the rebirth of a neighborhood that only a few years ago was overcome with crime and rundown buildings, officials said.

The city has taken several steps to rehabilitate the neighborhood, said City Councilman Dave Golonski.

``It was a tough neighborhood,'' Golonski said. But with all the work that has been done, ``it has come together very positively.''

The Burbank Elms property formerly held a 20-unit apartment building that was run down and had a shortage of parking, Golonski said. The city purchased it hoping to increase home ownership in the neighborhood while reducing density, he said.

The neighborhood has also experienced a ``drastic reduction'' in crime since the city's revitalization efforts began, he added.