Low-income seniors will soon have a new place to live in Menlo Park. Sequoia Belle Haven, a “below market rate” senior-living complex of 90 apartments under construction at 1221 Willow Road, is on the lookout for tenants.
Applications to live there are now being accepted, according to the city of Menlo Park.
When the complex is completed, there will be 86 one-bedroom and four two-bedroom apartments. The site previously had 48 apartments that were built in the 1960s and lightly rehabilitated in 1987, according to MidPen Housing.
Seniors who lived there previously will be given the first chance to move back in. Of the remaining apartments, preference will be given to new renters who already live or work in Menlo Park, said Beth Fraker, spokesperson for MidPen Housing Corp., the nonprofit housing developer that is building the apartments.
The units are for households with at least one person age 62 or older. The seniors must also have an income that falls below 50 percent of the area median income, Ms. Fraker said.
For a single person, 50 percent of the median income is $43,050 and for two people it’s $49,200, according to San Mateo County data.
Rent will be $619 to $949 for a one-bedroom apartment and $736 to $1,132 for two bedrooms.
By contrast, the market-rate apartments that opened Nov. 2 at 777 Hamilton Ave. in Menlo Park have monthly rents of $3,100 to $6,100 for one- to three-bedroom units.
A maximum of three people can live in each one-bedroom aparment, and a maximum of five in each two-bedroom unit, Ms. Fraker said. Therefore, the most the complex could accommodate is 278 people.
In addition to housing, the development will have a community room, a lounge, a computer lounge, an exercise room and two laundry rooms, according to MidPen Housing. There will be classes on computers, financial literacy, meditation and nutrition, and other activities, including arts and crafts.
The project was funded with $5.1 million from the city of Menlo Park, about $1.7 million from San Mateo County’s Department of Housing, and loans and other funds from MidPen Housing, the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, and Wells Fargo.
Contact MidPen Housing at 650-356-2900 for more information.
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