GILROY
– The Santa Teresa Boulevard senior housing complex that was the
subject of much controversy before it got built is struggling
mightily to fill rental units, and the project’s developers may
lose tax breaks they were counting on for this year.
GILROY – The Santa Teresa Boulevard senior housing complex that was the subject of much controversy before it got built is struggling mightily to fill rental units, and the project’s developers may lose tax breaks they were counting on for this year.
Approximately half of the 75 one- and two-bedroom units at the Village Green Town Square apartment complex off Santa Teresa and Hecker Pass remain unoccupied nearly six months after going on the market.
In a last-grasp effort to fill the apartments so its tax credits can be used now – instead of a number of years from now – Village Green is renting its units for free through the end of this year.
The president of the companies developing Village Green says the predicament will not bankrupt the firms. However, CRP Construction and DMA Gilroy Partners will be swallowing “a negative adjustment” to their profits.
“There is no profit for us right now. It’s a matter of how large the negative is going to be,” President Tom Gruenwald said.
Gruenwald said the developers, however, will continue building the multifaceted senior living complex because the overall project will be profitable. Besides the Town Square apartments, Village Green will have an Alzheimer’s care facility on site and affordable cottage-style homes that already are selling well.
“The cash flow is there to ensure that the project will continue,” Gruenwald said.
Nonetheless, property managers charged with renting the 530- to 700-square-foot one- and two-bedroom units are feeling the pressure to land residents before Dec. 31 – the date developers wanted to start cashing in their tax breaks.
“We’re under the gun to get these apartments filled by the end of the year,” said Lindsey Freedman, a manager at Village Green. “We’re looking for community help. We need businesses to put our brochures out. We need word of mouth.”
