The owners of the Carville Park Senior Apartments have plans to upgrade the units without raising costs for tenants .Since the 1970s, the complex has remained virtually the same, without any major upgrades or rehabilitations. However, the owners of the property have plans to upgrade the units and exteriors of the buildings.
Rob Benner, Secretary Treasurer of the Northern Nevada Building Trades Council Development Corp, which owns the building, on Wednesday spoke on behalf of the project at a Reno City Council meeting.
“We’ve owned this property for over 40 years and it has not had any major rehab done to it — it needs a rehab really bad,” Benner said.
The 4.5 acre site is on Carville Drive near Sutro Street, just east of the Reno Livestock Event Center. The complex was built with 52 “dorm style” units, each with four private bedroom/bathroom units, a common living area and a shared kitchen. Residents are low-income seniors with 30-60% area median income (AMI).
Benner spoke to council members about the project as part of a request to modify the density in zoning so that each of the existing 52 units can be converted into four private apartments each with its own kitchen, thereby creating 208 individual dwelling units.
The change wouldn’t increase the number of tenants, simply allow for a kitchen in each unit. As a bonus, the kitchens won’t increase the cost of rent for the tenants either, Benner said.
Renovations to the site will also address deferred maintenance, upgrade inefficient systems with new technology, and update the dwellings to the modern standards of residential apartment living, according to the agenda.
Benner said residents will be moved to other locations in phases as construction begins, with the owners of the Carville Park Senior Apartments covering all costs.
The reason to move away from the dorm style apartments comes from lessons learned during the pandemic, Benner said.
The senior population is more at risk than other groups, he said, and communal living created many challenges during the pandemic that could put the seniors living in the apartments at risk.
“We were going to have to do a rehab on the property anyway, so we’re taking this opportunity to divide all these spaces up,” Benner said.
The project will include taking the buildings completely “down to the studs,” and, with the exception to the exteriors, will be completely brand new inside when completed, including plumbing, electrical, and more.
In addition, they’ll be adding solar power to help lower tenant energy costs both now and in the future.
Council member Naomi Duerr said she was in support of the project, because, “People, no matter what level, deserve to have good housing, and I’m sure this will bring up the quality.”
“We want our tenants to have a nice place to live,” Benner said. “We’re not making any more money off of this; our rents are set by HUD.”
Council member Jenny Brekhus said she was intrigued by the project and asked to take a tour of the facility once people were moved but before construction began.
Benner added that the project will be built by union labor, and will use apprenticeship programs for its construction.
“We’re hoping this will be a model of how we build things going forward,” Benner said. “We have such a great need for affordable housing in our area, and we’ll be looking for more affordable housing projects in the future.”
Carville Park Senior Apartments was granted a rezoning from Multi-Family Residential 14 to Specific Plan District zoning, allowing the creation of 208 individual apartments on the site, by unanimous vote.
