Affordable senior housing community coming to Crossroads Mall | SHAG constructing 6-story, 185-unit apartment building

The Senior Housing Assistance Group plans to construct an affordable rental apartment community on the northeast corner of the Crossroad Mall that will include 1,600 square feet of retail that caters to residents.

By Brandon Macz • March 20, 2015 5:53 pm

“I think it’s a really exciting opportunity and, quite frankly, it’s a model for great opportunities in the senior housing arena in particular,” said Jay Wolford, SHAG executive director. “We have long wanted to be able to provide affordable housing on the Eastside.”

The 6-story, 205,104-square-foot Crossroads Senior Living project will include 185 units, with a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartments of varying sizes and amenities.

“This is really a mixed-income property,” said Wolford, “where there will be a certain number of units that will be set aside for people who make less than 50 percent of the median income.” He added half of the units will be available to those whose income is less than 80 percent of the median income.

SHAG operates 28 senior communities in the Puget Sound region, and Wolford said Crossroads Senior Living will be most like its Victoria Park community in Seattle’s Lake City neighborhood.

Wolford said the ground level of the apartment community will include some retail, but also amenities like a community room and fitness and computer centers. Retail could include things like therapy services or even a small restaurant.

“We haven’t really reached out as of yet,” he said. “One of the beauties of where it’s located in Crossroads Mall is we already have a vast array of retail that’s available that does benefit residents.”

Pacific Northern Construction will develop the site, which is expected to break ground in either late 2015 or early 2016.

“Obviously it’s a great addition to the community in terms of having senior housing in the city of Bellevue,” said Stewart Tanz, CEO of Retail Opportunity Investments Corp., which owns the mall.

Tanz said mall customers and the public at large will also benefit from the senior housing project, which includes the addition of another connection path to the adjacent Crossroads Park.

SHAG and ROIC spent about two years negotiating terms for constructing the senior living center at the mall, Tanz said, adding a lack of such housing in Bellevue made it a good fit.