Town Meadows tower being sold to raise funds for more affordable housing
August 25,2018
Visalia Senior Housing, a non-profit group formed by four local churches is selling the 100-unit Town Meadows tower, across Locust from the library, to a housing developer who will rehab it and continue its mission to provide affordable housing to seniors in Downtown Visalia.
Due to close by the end of August the buyer is Thomas Safran & Associates, a company located in Southern California. The firm owns and operates many low income senior facilities.
“They have pledged to rehab and update the Town Meadows and to continue with new HUD agreements that guarantees continued low income housing for our seniors” says Visalia Senior Housing president Tom Lewis.”They have an excellent reputation.”
“We have been working on this for three years” adds Lewis “looking for ways to continue our mission to offer more affordable housing to Visalians.” To do that they need money to rehab older unit that the nonprofit owns here as well as add more units.
The buyer was the high bidder, one of nine received to buy the complex that has the much sought after one-bedroom apartments next to the the Visalia Sr Center.
The nonprofit group will take the proceeds and rehab another low income facility, the Meadows that they own and “build at least another 100 units” of low income housing in town over the next year or two.
In the early 1970’s, Visalia Senior Housing was formed by four local churches; First Christian Church, Visalia United Methodist Church, St. Paul’s Parish and Christ Lutheran. Since inception the primary goal was to provide affordable low income housing to seniors in Visalia.
In 1975, The Meadows was built with 100 units and in 1980 the Town Meadows followed with 100 units. In 2000, Oak Meadows was built in partnership with CCH (California Christian Homes) with 60 units and in 2009, Sierra Meadows was built in partnership with CCH with 43 units. All of these units were funded with government loans, tax credits and rental assistance.
Currently, there is no source of government money to build new units. Three years ago the board started looking at ways we could provide additional units and undertake major rehab of The 43 year old Meadows and 39 year old Town Meadows. Both facilities require significant investment to bring them up to standard.
As far as any new complex, Vice President of the organization Jim Galka says they want work with the City of Visalia to see if they come up with a deal to buy some land that they might make available, perhaps also in the Downtown area or elsewhere.
To do that they expect to work with one or more affordable housing developers they are already in touch with says Senior Housing board member Berk Johnson, a former city council member. One idea being kicked around, build a 5-story complex with a wider footprint than the Town Meadows.
That would take the number of low income senior units in the city to over 400