Seniors Immediately Fill Kenai Meadows Apartments
KENAI –March 9, 2021 – Kenai Peninsula Housing Initiatives (KPHI) has completed a three-year, multi-phase housing project that has successfully added 22 units of affordable and senior housing to the city of Kenai. The second phase of Kenai Meadows, a six-unit senior housing project, was completed in January of this year and will be fully rented by later this month.
“Many of our new Kenai Meadows tenants are seniors who are on a fixed income who are looking for a safe place to age-in-place,” said Brandy McGee, Associate Director, Compliance & Property Management for KPHI. “One of the important aspects to our providing low-income and senior housing across the Kenai Peninsula over the last year has been our efforts to connect our tenants to available resources during this pandemic.”
KPHI started its first project in Kenai in 2017. The Kenai City Council conveyed 2.5 acres to the housing nonprofit to build apartments for Alaskans who earn no more than 60 percent of the Area Media Income (AMI). KPHI completed a two-story six-plex called Clear Point Apartments in 2018 and added another six-plex to the project in 2020. In 2019, KPHI started a six-unit senior housing project called Kenai Meadows adjacent to the Clear Pointe apartments. The second phase of Kenai Meadows was completed in January 2021. Kenai Meadows includes four one-bedroom apartments and eight two-bedroom apartments with garages and accommodations for mobility and sensory impairments. Two of the senior housing apartments are income restricted for an individual or couple that earns 30 percent of the AMI. In all, 22 individuals and families live in the two projects located next door to each other on Redoubt Avenue.
“The demand for senior and low-income housing throughout the Kenai Peninsula has been consistent since I started with the organization in 2003, “ said Steven Rouse, Executive Director of the organization. “We are very thankful that the City of Kenai partnered with KPHI to serve the growing demand in their local area. The land donation allowed us to leverage other funding sources to make the projects financially feasible.”
Development funding for Clear Pointe and Kenai Meadows started with calculation of maximum capacity of mortgage debt. Additional funding was provided through the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation’s (AHFC’s) GOAL Program and grants from the Rasmuson Foundation and Wells Fargo Foundation. Local businesses involved in the projects include Bezek, Durst & Seiser Architects and Planners of Anchorage for design, Nelson Engineering of Kenai for civil and structural engineering, Central Alaska Engineering Company of Soldotna for mechanical and electrical engineering and Sundance Construction Company of Kasilof for construction.
For the last 17 years, KPHI has been providing low-income, senior and special needs housing to residents of the Kenai Peninsula. KPHI also just completed Phase II of Crane Hill, a low-income housing project in Homer. The nonprofit housing organization is also poised to break ground on Willow Green, an 8-plex of one- and two-bedroom apartments in Soldotna. KPHI currently manages 148 units of affordable/senior special needs housing in Homer, Seward, Soldotna, Ninilchik and Kenai. Learn more at www.KPHI.net.