Amid housing crisis, midtown apartments will house elderly, low-income LGBTQ residents
The Sacramento region’s first apartment project aimed at housing low-income members of the LGBTQ community has final funding and is expected to begin construction in October.
Lavender Courtyard will be built at the corner of 16th and F streets in midtown and will include 49 one-bedroom and four two-bedroom apartments. It represents an effort to create safe living for people who are at least 62 years old and who have been under financial stress.
Nearly half the units, 24 of the 53, will be reserved for people who will be moving in from living on the streets or living in homeless shelters. That includes members of the LGBTQ community, but also residents who are not gay.
The project, to be built by Mutual Housing California, a private company that focuses on subsidized, low-income housing, will fill a particular niche in the market — older members of the LGBTQ community who have been in financial duress, and who may be at more risk of suffering from discrimination and isolation.
“At Lavender Courtyard, we will include a wide range of resident services and activities that will bolster the LGBT culture to ensure that for the people who live at Lavender, getting older will not mean getting forgotten and abused,” Mutual Housing CEO Roberto Jimenez said in a news statement.
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said he’s pleased state and local officials are allowing construction projects to continue as “essential” services during the coronavirus crisis.
“We will need affordable housing more than ever because of the economic stress caused by COVID-19,” Steinberg told The Bee. “I applaud the governor for allowing construction on critical projects like these to continue. This project is particularly welcome as the first one specifically targeted for LGBTQ seniors.”
Midtown district Councilman Steve Hansen said the timing is good for the project, which has been nearly six years in the making. “In the midst of a dark economic crisis, this is a big boost to our morale in the city and for the people that desperately need affordable housing,” he said.
The courtyard apartment project, which is expected to open in early 2022 at the southeast corner of the intersection, is financed from a private bank loan, private foundation funds and several pots of government housing grants.
That includes $10.7 million in state and federal low-income housing tax credits and a tax-exempt bond, $11.3 million in Multifamily Housing Program funds under Proposition 1 from the state Department of Housing and Community Development, and $1.9 million in city of Sacramento housing funds.
Mutual Housing California received final funding approvals Tuesday as well for a low-income apartment project in the city of Davis at 2050 5th Street. That project will include units for people participating in Yolo County homeless and transitional youth programs.
Both projects are expected to open in early 2022.
This story was originally published April 15, 2020 at 10:36 AM.