AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR SENIORS PONDERED.

Byline: Douglas Clark Daily News Staff Writer

The number of affordable housing units for seniors could nearly double in the next year or so if city officials and developers can agree on financial terms.

The city's Affordable Housing Subcommittee today will consider a proposal by Los Angeles development firm Kaufman & Broad to build a 69-unit affordable senior apartment project on Rory Lane.

If approved, this $6.3 million project and two others could raise the number of affordable senior apartments from 415 to 768.

``It's something we want to see in the city, absolutely,'' said Paul Drury, associate city planner. ``Senior housing and affordable housing is what we want. And this project is both.''

The committee will meet at 3:30 p.m. in City Hall, 2929 Tapo Canyon Road.

However, the Kaufman & Broad project comes with a $564,500 request for financial assistance that city officials say might be excessive. An analysis of the request by city consultant Keyser Marston Associates revealed that the funding gap calculated by the developer actually might be closer to $306,000.

Also, the rents for Rory Lane Seniors Apartments, which range from $429 to $656, are about 12 percent higher than rents for existing senior units and a 148-unit Wood Ranch area project by AMCAL that already has won City Council approval.

``We'll consider how much assistance - if any - we can put toward the project,'' Drury said. ``The consultant saw the project as having billing costs as a little higher than normal.''

Scott Choppin, Kaufman & Broad project manager, declined comment until after today's meeting.

Drury said he didn't know how much money was available in the city's Community Development Agency account. But HOME federal grants administered by the state is a funding source the committee could suggest.

A more complex issue to be discussed is the developer's request to subordinate the city's Affordable Housing Agreement, so that principle lenders could foreclose on the project without city encumbrances should the developer default on loans.

The Affordable Housing Agreement simply asks that the project remain ``affordable'' in the event of a foreclosure. But a bank might want to sell the project to the highest bidder, regardless of what level rents will be charged, Drury said.

``We don't like to subordinate because we want affordability to stay with the project if it should go under,'' he said.

Kaufman & Broad also has proposed to build 136 units of senior housing to be included in a single-home development off Madera Road and adjacent to Wood Ranch. No financial assistance has been requested for this project, which has yet to come before the City Council for approval.

Bob Cottle, an associate city planner, said the market for affordable senior apartments is very tight - and this frustrates the many seniors on fixed incomes who rely on subsidized housing.

``We've got less than a half percent vacancy rate for senior apartments. Any time we have lower rents, that helps the market,'' he said. ``The committee is interested in getting more apartments.''