Development Answers the Need for Affordable Assisted Living

The Sanctuary at Brooklyn Center is home to seniors who need help with daily activities but not the intense care of an expensive nursing home.

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Courtesy EverGreen Real Estate Development Corp.

The Sanctuary at Brooklyn Center in Brooklyn Center, Minn., by S… Read More The Sanctuary at Brooklyn Center in Brooklyn Center, Minn., by SCA Properties and EverGreen Real Estate Development Corp.

Courtesy EverGreen Real Estate Development Corp.

The $37.1 million development was financed with the help of tax-… Read More The $37.1 million development was financed with the help of tax-exempt bonds and low-income housing tax credits. National Development Council is the LIHTC investor.

Courtesy EverGreen Real Estate Development Corp.

The Sanctuary at Brooklyn Center, which has a mix of studios and… Read More The Sanctuary at Brooklyn Center, which has a mix of studios and one-bedroom units, serves residents earning no more than 60% of the area median income.

The 158-unit development is a rare affordable assisted-living community, offering seniors an important option as they age. Here, residents can find a critical step between independent living and a nursing facility.

Developed by SCA Properties and EverGreen Real Estate Development, the new community is located in Brooklyn Center, Minn., an area with a number of assisted-living projects but few units that are affordable to low-income seniors, says Andrew Aulde, a contractor with SCA Properties.

The Sanctuary at Brooklyn Center, which has a mix of studios and one-bedroom units, serves residents earning no more than 60% of the area median income and serves as a model for meeting the needs of a growing senior population.

Residents can receive help with bathing, housekeeping, and other activities. In addition, 28 studios are set aside for residents in a memory-care program for those with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

“For residents and their families, the development provides peace of mind,” Aulde says.

The $37.1 million development was financed with the help of tax-exempt bonds and low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs), which have helped to provide affordable housing for a variety of different populations but has had limited use in financing assisted-living projects. National Development Council is the LIHTC investor.

The Sanctuary at Brooklyn Center is able to serve low-income seniors with the help of the state’s Medicaid waiver, where Medicaid is used to help pay for residents to live in an assisted-living community. Development representatives estimate that every resident housed in assisted living instead of a nursing home saves the state as much as $3,000 a month.

The city of Brooklyn Center issued the bonds and provided the land under a cash-flow-based subordinate mortgage.