$27 million assisted living complex gets council's OK $27 million assisted living complex gets council's OK (August 19, 2005)

Construction starts next month on 105-unit facility
by Jeb Bing

Bridge Housing, a nationally-recognized eldercare organization, was given approval Tuesday to start construction on a long-planned $27 million assisted living facility next to the Pleasanton Senior Center.

The two-story, 105-unit, senior care project will be managed by Eskaton Senior Services and Residences, a well-known and high regarded property management service that operates similar facilities in the region.

Deputy City Manager Steven Bocian, who has spearheaded the effort to build an assisted care facility in Pleasanton, said the project will be built on a city-owned 3.6-acre site at the northwest corner of Sunol Boulevard and Junipero Street. Construction will start next month with completion scheduled for late 2006.

The new facility will accommodate a total of 125 residents, including 19 units for Alzheimer's patients. All units will include full services, with rents as low as $675 a month on nine units reserved for seniors on federal assistance, to $1,500 for those qualifying for the 22 low-income units, and at market rate rents for the rest of the units. All apartments, whether for affordable or market-rate tenants, will consist of studios and one-bedroom units with full access to meals in a main dining room, and with a private dining room for residents and their guests. Other amenities will include a library, wellness center and a beauty salon.

In signing a complex financial agreement with Bridge, the council agreed to lease the site to Bridge for 55 years. The city also will be a project lender, providing a $2.49-million loan from its Lower Income Housing Fund and another $1.5 million from a loan it received from the California Housing Finance Agency. It also will sponsor tax-exempt Certificates of Participation (COP) financing in an amount of $19.7 million, but those will be repaid by Bridge through its operating receipts.

Bocian said Pleasanton residents will have preference in obtaining assisted living units, with special consideration for those now residing at the Ridge View Commons, Kottinger Place and Pleasanton Gardens senior housing complexes. The council decided against imposing tighter preference requirements have it was noted that some Pleasanton residents may want assisted living accommodations for their parents or other relatives who do not currently live here.

Carole Galante of Bridge Housing said there usually aren't any waiting lists for these kinds of facilities because people ask for the space only when they need it

"By the time they become applicants, they already have health conditions that require assistance," she told the council. "We're not like a senior apartment complex where people sign up for the next unit that becomes available."Those seeking assisted living can't wait very long."

Trevor Hammond of Eskaton said the turnover rate at some assisted living facilities his service operates is as high as 45 percent a year. "It used to be less and residents used to stay longer, but that's changed in recent years," Hammond said. "Those coming into assisted living now tend to be a lot older, about 84 on average, and they have more health needs. They're not here as long."

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