| | Published June 9th, 2010
| Eden Housing Meets Orinda Community
| | By Andrea Firth |  | | A view of the proposed senior housing building looking across the Community Park. A drawn rendering with photographs of the park and landscape superimposed. Image provided by Eden Housing.
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"This project is something the city has been thinking about for many years," stated Woody Karp, a Senior Project Manager with Eden Housing, the developers of the proposed affordable senior housing building in downtown Orinda, during the first of two community meetings to be held this month. Eden Housing, which is California's oldest nonprofit affordable housing developer, had several members of its project team on hand to present the housing project proposed for the old library site, city-owned property at the corner of Orinda Way and Irwin Way, and to answer questions.
Karp noted that with the projected influx of people moving to the Bay Area over the next 25 years, Orinda's population will grow by almost 8% and most of this growth will be among seniors over 65-years old. Seniors currently comprise 14% of Orinda's 17,800 residents, and by 2035 there will be an estimated 3,878 seniors representing over 20% of the city's population. Cities throughout California are required to plan for the projected housing needs of the community at all economic levels, and compliance with the State's housing elements law is a prerequisite to the City's receipt of transportation funds. This senior affordable housing project, which has 70 one-bedroom units and one additional unit for a manager onsite, would fulfill Orinda's current housing obligation for very-low income residents (those at or below 50% of the area median income) said Karp.
"It's an absolutely beautiful site," stated Sean Reynolds, an architect from the Dahlin Group that is working with Eden, in describing the heavily treed and fairly sloped property. "One of our main design goals was to retain as many trees as possible to maintain the screening of the property and soften the site," said Reynolds. The proposed building is mostly two to three stories tall, and due to the steep slope, four stories in one part reaching 52 feet at its highest point, he explained. To fit with the eclectic mix of traditional and modern architectural styles in Orinda's downtown area, the proposed building has lots of glass, heavy corbelling, and an exterior with a combination of wood siding, stucco, and stone accents. The building has a flat roof, which Eden hopes will translate to some energy efficiency savings. "We want to put solar panels on the rooftop to the extent that we can pay for those up front," stated Karp. In addition to the 71 one-bedroom units, the design includes a community room, library, and exercise room.
The creation of community connections to the adjacent Orinda Senior Village and the downtown district were also integral to the design. Eden has proposed to add a sidewalk along Irwin Way and a pathway that extends through the property from the edge of the Senior Village parking lot to a stairwell leading to the sidewalk on Orinda Way. The potential synergy between the Orinda Senior Village and the proposed senior housing project is one of the most attractive elements of the location, noted Karp. "We are hoping to be able to work with Orinda Senior Village to create coordinated programs and interact fully," he added.
One resident questioned whether the 37 parking spaces in the proposed design were sufficient to accommodate the residents, staff members, and visitor needs. An Eden representative responded that the ratio of .6 parking spots per unit has been an adequate parking ratio for their other senior residences, noting that many seniors no longer drive. The parking in the Orinda Senior Village, which has 175 units and 74 parking spaces, was cited as an example.
Another resident asked if story poles for the proposed project would be installed. Karp explained that the project is scheduled to go before the City's Planning Commission in September. To minimize the time that the parking lot next to the Community Park tennis courts is closed, he said story poles would probably be placed about a month prior to the Commission's review.
To identify and qualify residents, Eden will open the apartment lease process to the community six months prior to the completion of construction, explained Jan Peters of Eden's Housing Management Company. A third party verifies the applicants' income and assets, and Peters noted that there is very little fraud. She added that new properties usually fill up within a month of opening and often within a few days, and the vacancy rate is generally about 1%. Although the units can legally accommodate up to three people, Eden finds that the vast majority of units house just one senior.
The second community meeting regarding the proposed senior affordable housing project will be held on Thursday, June 17th starting at 7:00 p.m. at the Orinda Community Church.
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 | | A view of the proposed senior housing building standing at the firehouse and looking across Orinda Way. A computer-generated image of the building with photographs of the existing street and landscape superimposed. Image provided by Eden Housing.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA