New Heritage Square Housing Development Gives Seniors A Place to Call Home After 14 Years In The Making

Thursday afternoon, Pasadena celebrated the grand opening of its newest housing development, Heritage Square Apartments, that now gives 70 deserving seniors brand new affordable housing accommodations in the heart of Northwest Pasadena.

The development required 14 years to complete and is the first property in the City to be developed by BRIDGE Housing — an award-winning nonprofit developer, owner and manager of affordable housing.

“This is an exciting community development that we hope will not only benefit the seniors who live at Heritage Square, but the surrounding neighborhood as well,” said Cynthia A. Parker, President and Chief Executive Officer of BRIDGE.

Heritage Square Senior Apartments is located on 762 N. Fair Oaks Ave just above Orange Grove and on the original site of Pasadena’s historic Decker House.

The property serves seniors age 55+ who can live independently and whose income is up to 30-50% of Area Median Income ($18,240-$30,400) for a one-person household). Monthly rents are approximately 30% of a resident’s income.

“This is a great example of what happens when the City and community really come together and focus on the same goals. There have been some remarkable successes here,” said Department of Housing Director Bill Huang.

The pedestrian-friendly development offers two community rooms, a library and two landscaped courtyards for casual and organized social gatherings. Under its Local Benefits Plan, developer BRIDGE Housing hired 20 percent of the construction workforce from Pasadena, procured 81 percent of construction supplies from companies located in Pasadena, and awarded 39 percent of subcontracting opportunities to local companies.

“People want to come to live in Pasadena, but the costs are getting so extraordinarily high. How do we maintain our diversity? Building affordable housing is one of the best ways we can do that,” explained Huang.

According to data, 33 percent of Heritage Square residents are African American, 25 percent are Latino, 22 percent are white and 20 percent are Asian.

“This particular development represents the kind of diversity we really want to achieve,” said Huang.

Financing for the $23.7 million Heritage Square was provided by Wells Fargo, N.A.; the City of Pasadena; California Community Reinvestment Corporation; and the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee. KTGY Group is the architect of record, Steinberg Architects is the design architect and Dreyfuss Construction was the general contractor. The property is managed by The John Stewart Company.

Approximately 1,500 seniors applied for housing at Heritage Square.

For more information, visit http://www.bridgehousing.com/properties/heritage.