Coralville looks at affordable senior housing

CORALVILLE - A proposed $11 million Coralville housing project aims to add more than 50 apartments billed as affordable senior housing.

The Coral Ridge Apartments project has received a $750,000 conditional commitment from the Coralville City Council. That funding is predicated on the approval of developer Sand Development's application for low-income housing tax credits from the Iowa Finance Authority.

The Housing Trust Fund of Johnson County also has loaned the project $300,000 at 1 percent interest on a 17-year term.

Ellen Habel, assistant city administrator in Coralville, said the building will be built at 915 20th Ave., site of the now-vacant Lantern Park Care Center.

'We're happy to see something happening there,” Habel said. 'We have seen a lot of interest lately, over the last couple years, in senior housing in Coralville. ... I think we can always use more options.”

The proposed apartments would include 56 two-bedroom units, 59 underground parking spots, on-site management, a community room and in-unit laundry.

The entire project cost is estimated at $11 million.

Seniors 55 years old would be eligible to live in the apartments, with units for residents who have incomes at 30 percent, 40 percent and 60 percent of the area's median income. Some market-rate units also will be included.

'One of the challenges for seniors is, as rents increase, their earning potential doesn't,” said Megan Sand Carr, senior business development manager with Sand Development. 'So the need for affordable senior housing becomes a greater demand.”

The proposal has units renting for $500 to $1,200 a month, Carr said.

If the project's Iowa Finance Authority application is awarded, Carr said work could begin next fall, with an estimated 12-month construction period.

'Under the proposed agreement, the City Council would like us to start demolishing the building this winter,” Carr said of the former care center. 'The proposed building will go roughly in the same general vicinity.”