Montecito Terraces Will Add 98 Senior Apartments to Panorama City

Jan. 31, 2012 - PRLog -- Media Contact:
Nelson & Gilmore
Lisa Layne, llayne@nelsongilmore.com

AGOURA HILLS, CALIFORNIA– AMCAL Multi-Housing Inc., one of California’s leading builders of affordable and low-income housing, will celebrate the groundbreaking of Montecito Terraces, Los Angeles’ newest 98-unit senior affordable housing development. The event begins at 8:30 a.m. Los Angeles City Councilman Tony Cárdenas, whose district includes Panorama City where Montecito Terraces is located, will give the keynote address. Also attending the groundbreaking will be AMCAL CEO Percy Vaz. AMCAL Vice President of Operations Maurice Ramirez and Al Santillanes from the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles.

Showcasing a Mediterranean-inspired design by Van Tilburg, Banvard & Soderbergh, Montecito Terraces is located on two sites across the street from one another. One site will have 29 units while the other will have 69 units. In total, Montecito Terraces will consist of 78 one-bedroom and 20 two-bedroom apartments. In addition to community amenities including an open recreation courtyard, pool, outdoor garden terraces, and two community rooms with a kitchenette and lounge, Montecito Terraces will offer seniors a variety of complimentary social services, including computer training, education, legal referrals, tax preparation referrals, and health and nutrition programs.

“Senior citizens face many challenges today, one of which is limited income, making affordable housing even more important for maintaining their quality of life,” said Vaz. “We are excited to begin construction on Montecito Terraces, which will not only provide residents with an affordable residence, but will also offer free access to social services.”

Replacing older apartment buildings, Montecito Terraces is a 100 percent affordable building and is AMCAL’s second affordable housing development in the San Fernando Valley. Twenty-eight units will be dedicated to households who earn 60 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI), 48 units will be reserved for 50 percent AMI, 20 units will be reserved for both 40 percent and 30 percent AMI, and two unit will be reserved for on-site staff. Apartments will range in size from 528 sq. ft. to 771 sq. ft.

Conveniently located near an MTA Rapid bus route and Blythe Street Park, Montecito Terraces is also a short distance from The Plant shopping center, the Casa Esperanza community center, pharmacies and Mission Community Hospital.

AMCAL is striving to be a LEED Silver certified development, and Montecito Terraces is striving to be deemed LEED Gold. The development will implement many green building practices. To conserve water, drought tolerant and native plants will be used in the community’s landscaping, while high-efficiency and low flow toilets and faucets will be installed in each apartment. To reduce waste, unused construction material will be recycled. Locally-produced products will also be used where possible. Specific LEED qualifications for this development includes:

GREEN FEATURES FOR MONTECITO

LOCATION AND LINKAGES
Because these units are within walking distance of many basic resources like banks, churches, and grocery stores this means less driving and less driving means fewer carbon emissions that are damaging to the environment.

WATER SAVING ELEMENTS
1. LANDSCAPING
The landscaping at Montecito Terraces is designed to save water: No turf was used, 45% drought-tolerant plants were planted and low flow drip sprinklers were installed.

2. WATER SAVING FIXTURES
Water Saving fixtures are in all of the bathrooms at Montecito Terrace: Every bathroom has a low-flow faucet and low-flow toilet.

HUMIDSTAT BATHROOM FAN
Each bathroom also comes equipped with an Energy Star bathroom fan. T

LIGHTING
Lighting fixtures were installed in all the units that use less electricity, and therefore, reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and reduce the amount of harmful emissions released into the environment.

ENERGY STAR APPLIANCES
Energy Star appliances are in every unit: Energy Star Refrigerators, Energy Star Dishwashers and Energy Star clothes washer in Community Room.

MATERIALS
Many materials that are normally used in construction contain toxic chemicals. At Montecito Terraces the carpet, the adhesive used to glue the carpet down and the paint on all the walls were all Low VOC, which means they contain much fewer toxins than most carpets and paint.

CARBON MONOXIDE MONITOR
Carbon Monoxide is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas that is highly toxic to humans and can be hard to detect.

OTHER AIR QUALITY MEASURES
In addition to the Carbon Monoxide monitor other measures have been implemented here at Montecito that will improve the air quality. In many buildings the heating and cooling equipment is located in the garage because it’s a convenient location.

Throughout the state, affordable housing is having a positive impact on each city. The construction of Montecito Terraces is anticipated to create up to 342 jobs in local Panorama City businesses, 179 full-time construction jobs and 500 local short-term construction jobs.

Montecito Terraces is financed with an allocation of over $13.3 million in nine percent Low-Income Housing Tax Credits in 2009, conventional debt and an impressive collaboration of public funds from the Proposition 1c Infill Infrastructure Grant fund, American Recovery Reinvestment Act federal stimulus fund, Los Angeles Housing Department and the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles. Equity is provided by Hudson Housing Capital, and the construction and permanent financing lender is U.S. Bank. Montecito Terraces is scheduled for completion in 2011.

“Montecito Terraces is an excellent example of the public and private sectors working together for a common goal – to provide high quality, affordable housing for our residents,” said Cárdenas. “We are happy to work with AMCAL to bring this development to our community and look forward to its grand opening next year.”

In addition to multiple apartment developments for low-income families and seniors, AMCAL is currently under construction on five new tax-credit projects that were awarded in 2009 and three tax-credit projects awarded in 2008. These developments include Mirandela, Rancho Palos Verdes’ first affordable housing development, and Mosaic, a Los Angeles development that received American Recovery and Reinvestment Act federal stimulus funds. Tax-credit investors include Bank of America Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan Chase, Hudson Housing Capital and Union Bank of California.

In 2009, AMCAL completed new affordable housing communities in San Diego, Oakland, Eastern Los Angeles and Palmdale. Since 1996, AMCAL has completed 31 communities with 3,178 units, valued at $576 million dollars.


ABOUT AMCAL MULTI-HOUSING, INC.
Based in Agoura Hills, CA, AMCAL Multi-Housing, Inc. has developed quality housing throughout California since 1978. In recent years, AMCAL has focused on the affordable housing sector, including family and senior apartments, as well as for-sale housing in emerging urban neighborhoods. Nationally recognized for its expertise in affordable housing, AMCAL has received honors from leading magazines and associations including Multifamily Executive for Editors’ Choice and Project of the Year – Best Mixed-Income, as well as NAHB for Innovation in Workforce Housing. The value of AMCAL projects currently under construction exceeds $136 million. Since 2003, AMCAL has been awarded over $350 million in low-income housing tax credits. Since 1995, AMCAL and AMCAL General Contractors have built 31 affordable housing developments, representing over 3000 units. As a third party general contractor, AMCAL General Contractors can provide affordable housing developers with the resources and leadership they need to build homes on time and within budget. For more information on AMCAL, please visit http://amcalhousing.com.

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