Carson supervisors to use bond share for senior housing

Carson City supervisors on Monday elected to use their share of a state bond allowance to help pay for affordable senior housing planned by a private developer.

The nearly $2.8 million will help finance a 230-unit dwelling on Russell Way now owned by the Boys & Girls Club of Western Nevada.

Sale of a four-acre portion of the club's 15 acres, near the corner of Russell Way and Northridge Drive, for the senior housing will help pay for an $8 million building project of its own, proposed by Canddle Development for $1.7 million.

Officials will need to determine at a later date whether the site would be suitable for senior housing, said Supervisor Shelly Aldean. It will add fewer than 90 units of affordable senior housing.

Senior Marilyn Safford, who ended up ranking at No. 176 on the list for an apartment in Autumn Village, told the supervisors that she strongly supported the plan.

"How do you get on the list?" asked Safford, who is currently living in a mobile home.

There isn't one yet, said Walt Sullivan, the city's community development director.

If all goes well, construction on The Vintage at Carson City should begin in the spring.

Supervisors need to request the bond share from the Nevada Department of Business and Industry by Friday. If they had opted not to take their share, it would have been given to the Nevada Rural Housing Authority for a first-time-home-buyer program, Sullivan said.

Federal tax law allows issuance of these bonds to finance affordable-housing and senior-housing projects and needs. Nevada receives a $240 million bond authority share from the federal government each year. The state keeps control of half and allocates the remaining shares to communities based on their population rates.

The supervisors also accepted a $5 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration to allow the airport to acquire land for its planned runway-realignment project.

The city is required to notify the FAA by Wednesday that it's accepting the grant. It will be used to purchase land to make the improvements expected over the next few years, said Steve Tackes, representing the Carson City Airport Authority.

• Contact reporter Terri Harber at tharber @nevadaappeal.com or 882-2111, ext. 215.