Tuesday, April 13, 2004 | 10:50 a.m.
Local, state and federal officials say Southern Nevada is in desperate need of affordable housing for seniors and families, but on Monday residents of the new Bonanza Pines Senior Apartments had a chance to enjoy their new low-cost "palaces."
Gov. Kenny Guinn told residents Monday at the grand opening of the 96-unit complex on Bonanza Road between Lamb Boulevard and Pecos Road that it is "one of the finest I have seen" for low-income housing.
Guinn quoted a woman who recently moved into Bonanza Pines as saying she knew God would one day provide her with a palace "and now I have my palace."
While officials say even more such affordable housing is sorely needed, what is affordable for one may not necessarily be considered so cheap to another.
For example, the Nevada Housing Division's 2003 survey of Southern Nevada apartments found that 17,912 of the area's 156,500 private sector studios, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three bedroom apartments are affordable -- 11.4 percent. Of them, just 2,545 are affordable senior apartments or 1.6 percent.
The agency defines the market rate rent for a studio as $499 per month and the affordable rate as $415; a one-bedroom: market rate $607, affordable $514; a two-bedroom: market rate $733, affordable $629; and a three-bedroom: market rate $909, affordable $753.
Local leaders and activists, however, say rents need to be even lower than the state's affordable threshold for housing to be truly affordable to thousands of Southern Nevadans in need.
To that end, rents at the $8.4 million privately/publicly financed Bonanza Pines are significantly below the state's affordable levels, with a one-bedroom going for $392 a month and two-bedroom units ranging from $413 to $476.
To qualify at Bonanza Pines, a senior must earn less than 45 percent of the area's median annual income. A senior must earn less than $19,800 for individuals and $22,600 for couples to qualify. There are units available, officials said, noting residents began moving into the complex last month.
Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., called the project "remarkable" noting "this community needs affordable housing desperately ... to allow people to live with dignity ... and in comfort."
Assemblywoman Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, a longtime crusader for affordable housing, said, "We have a crisis in our community. ... We have people who just cannot afford market rent."
Bonanza Pines became a reality when Michael Mullin, president of Nevada Housing and Neighborhood Development (HAND), a nonprofit organization, got several financiers and the city of Las Vegas to fund it. Nevada HAND now operates the facility.
"It took a lot of people to make Bonanza Pines a reality," Mullin said, noting that Fannie Mae, the nation's largest source of financing for home mortgages and multi-family housing kicked in $5.8 million.
Charlene Peterson, director of Fannie Mae's Nevada Partnership Office, said the need for affordable housing "is greater than ever for the growing senior population in Nevada."
"Bonanza Pines brings us one step closer to meeting our goals," she said.
Other money sources included the city of Las Vegas with $750,000, Citibank with $2.54 million and the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco with $480,000. Wells Fargo Bank provided the $4 million construction loan, Mullen said.
The Nevada State Housing Division and Wachovia Securities provided the Low Income Housing Tax Credits, which Fannie Mae took in exchange for its equity investment.
One of Nevada HAND's planned ventures is a 70-unit affordable family housing project with the Salvation Army.
"We hope to build 70 one- two- and three-bedroom family units near Owens Avenue on land donated by the city," said Maj. William Raihl, head of the Clark County Salvation Army. "With thousands of people moving here each month, families need decent, affordable housing -- it's a need that cannot be ignored."
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said after Monday's ceremony the city is dedicated to identifying areas where affordable multiple unit complexes can be built. He said buildings also can be rehabilitated.
"We are looking at boarded-up buildings that are salvageable," Goodman said.
Clark County Housing Authority Executive Director Gus Ramos, who also attended the Bonanza Pines opening, said after the ceremony, "no segment of the population can be ignored when it comes to affordable housing."
Ramos noted his agency has a waiting list of 6,000 people looking for subsidized housing, let alone affordable private housing. One county housing complex in Henderson, he said, has 100 filled units and a waiting list of 500.
Marta Gimenez, a 78-year-old widow who has lived in Las Vegas 14 years, said she has had no complaints since moving into Bonanza Pines on March 1.
"In the last place I lived, they said it was seniors only, but then they started renting to younger couples," she said. "They don't do that here. Also, it is all indoors (a contained building). The security is good."
Gimenez said she paid $600 for her last apartment, and uses the money she is saving via the cheaper rent at Bonanza Pines to pay for her utilities.
Bonanza Pines' amenities include cable TV access, garbage disposals, ceiling fans and central heating and air conditioning. Services include free transportation, a computer center with Internet service, a library, a free laundry facility, a beauty salon, a whirlpool bath and a fitness center.
Health care professionals also visit the complex to conduct free routine medical tests for residents.
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