Orinda, California: Monteverde Senior Apartments' Design Accommodates a Steeply Sloped Site

January 02, 2018  

Orinda, California: Monteverde Senior Apartments' Design Accommodates a Steeply Sloped Site

HUD User publishes a series of case studies based on federal, state, and local strategies that increase affordable housing opportunities and support sustainable community development. The projects and community development efforts featured in these reports have demonstrated innovation through a multitude of partnerships and initiatives.

A new senior affordable housing development, Monteverde Senior Apartments, opened in 2014 in Orinda, California. Residents on fixed incomes in the small city in the San Francisco Bay Area's Contra Costa County have difficulty finding affordable housing, and about 40 percent of Orinda's 700 renter households spend at least 30 percent of their income on rent. Nonprofit developer Eden Housing and the design firm DAHLIN Group have won numerous awards for Monteverde's design, including the 2017 American Institute of Architects/HUD Secretary's Award for Excellence in Affordable Housing Design. The award recognizes the affordable housing development's adaptation to the steeply sloped site, which was achieved without sacrificing accessibility. The award also praises Monteverde for fitting in visually with the surrounding environment even while achieving a greater density than is found in much of Orinda, which is zoned primarily for single-family homes.

Visit HUD User's Case Studies page to learn more about affordable senior housing and to view other promising examples of how communities across the nation are raising the bar on community development.

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