Preview Set For Housing Project Plans

Preview set for housing project plans

By WILLIAM B. TREML

NEWS STAFF REPORTER

There will be a preview 3:00 PM Sunday of the first low-cost housing project for senior citizens to be built in Ann Arbor since 1980 at the Peace Neighborhood Center on North Maple Road.

Plans call for "Sequoia Place" to be a 2-story 62 residence that will cost more than 3 million with funding from the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development. It will be built on a five-acre parcel owned jointly by the Trinity and Zion Lutheran Churches.

The housing project, expected to be completed in 1994, will be managed by the Lutheran Social Services of Michigan. The non-profit social organization was formed in 1934 as an outreach for 234 Lutheran congregations in the state.

LSS currently operates social care programs in 31 Michigan cities and now manages 14 housing
projects similar to the one planned here.

Robert Maulbetsch, chairman of the planning board for the churches, says Ann Arbor has played a major role in the Sequoia Place program and will be contributing $15,000 seed money to cover initial costs. Hud has agreed to finance the building under a full grant.

"A quality project like this for seniors has been needed for years in Ann Arbor and we’re happy that the churches have been able to meet this need," says the Rev. Charles Akre, pastor of Zion Lutheran Church.

Karl Guldberg, a retired advertising executive who has served as public information officer for the project, notes that a rendering of the housing and plans for it will be available for public inspection at the Sunday meeting. The Peace Neighbor Center is at North Maple and Sequoia Parkway.

Some of the land where the housing project is to be built has been used for a number of years for a series of community vegetable and flower community gardens, planted and cared for by Ann Arbor residents. This summer is expected to be the final year for the garden projects.

Maulbetsch said plans for tree screening and berms around the building, adequate parking, and various plantings in the area. The building will be air-conditioned and will contain 540 square foot apartments which will have one bedroom, a kitchen, a living/dining room, and a bathroom.

There will also be a library, crafts, and an activity room, laundry, and recycling area. The structure will contain an elevator and a fire sprinkler system. Persons over 62 who have incomes not exceeding $16,000 a year will be eligible to live in Sequoia Place.