_{Thumbnail photo: Plagued by water damage last winter, the developers spearheading the Battery Point Apartments project are working to weatherize the structures by November. The first phase of the development, including the senior housing building, is expected to go online in 2027. | Photo by James Brooks}

Wanting to avoid a repeat of last winter’s water damage, the developers behind Battery Point Apartments say their internal goal is to have two of its three buildings protected against the weather by November.

Contractors and sub contractors are also laying the foundation for the third building and ensuring that it is protected against the winter rains, Synergy Community Development Corporation Chair Jason Hobson told the Crescent City Council on Monday.

Two years after Synergy and Step Forward Communities broke ground on the site at Gary and E streets, Hobson said the goal is to get the project’s first phase, Buildings A and C, online between the summer and fall of 2027. Building A will consist of 40 senior housing units and Building C will be housing for families.

The second phase of the project, Building B, which is also family housing, will be finished shortly after the first phase, Hobson said.

“We will finish this project and provide quality homes that stay permanently affordable for 55 years,” he said. “And on this note, and on a personal note as chair of Synergy, I think about completing this project every day and we work towards that goal alongside a very large team of stakeholders that work behind the scenes.”

Those stakeholders include three state agencies, lenders, investors and “many consultants, Hobson said. 

Councilors also met a new member of the Battery Point Apartments team — Doug Russell, senior managing director for Vertex, the national construction management firm brought on to remediate the damage that occurred to Building A. 

Building A was initially a modular structure constructed in Nevada and sent to Crescent City, according to City Manager Eric Wier. Its sheetrock had been finished, the fixtures and electrical systems were in place and it had met the requirements for a modular home under the California Department of Housing and Community Development, the city manager said.

Crescent City was tasked with ensuring the building was put together correctly at the site, but HCD had already “stamped and certified” it, Wier said.

However, because of the damage the building took over the winter, the sheetrock needs to be removed, the electrical and plumbing work needs to be re-inspected, Wier said. 

“Basically, instead of this modular construction, we’re back to a typical type of construction where it all needs to be looked at, and so it loses its HCD seal,” he said. “Instead of us having these cost-savings components, at least from the city side of things, and us having this completed project, now it’s starting from Step 1.”

Building C also experienced similar issues, Wier said. 

At the city manager’s recommendation, four Crescent City councilors approved an amendment to a contract with BPR Consulting Group LLC to review the construction plans and do additional inspection on the two buildings.

According to Wier’s staff report, the Battery Point Apartment project’s estimated overall value was $55.68 million. On Monday, the city manager said the increased valuation for Building A is about $13 million, while the increased work for Building C is valued at about $11 million.

As a result, the developers are expected to pay $260,724 in increased building and plan check fees to the city, according to Wier. Out of those fees, the city will pay BPR $82,305 for their plan review services for Building A and Building C and for inspecting Building A, according to Wier’s staff report.

There will also be increased labor costs, though Wier said what those will be hasn’t been determined yet.

“Part of that is the fact that Dan Minges, our building official, is a retired annuitant and his time runs out Dec. 31,” Wier said. “So we are looking at possibly bringing on additional resources on that side. We think it’s going to be cost neutral, but there will be a corresponding expense eventually.”

Wier said the damage to the two buildings last winter was extensive.

“We’re going to need to go back through and basically re-inspect all these buildings, which includes sheetrock and cabinetry and all of these things,” he said. “And to make sure that one, it’s done right, and two, there aren’t lingering effects from it not being weather resistant last winter. That’s going to mean there aren’t any issues with moisture or anything like that going forward.”

Vertex brought in an industrial hygienist to test everything and ensure the moisture damage has been remediated, Hobson said. Any materials that are significantly damaged will be replaced, he said.

Synergy and Step Forward Communities are using a $7.5 million Infill Infrastructure Grant from HCD as well as a $9.7 million federal HOME Investment Partnership Program grant to build Battery Point Apartments. The developers also received a federal loan with tax-exempt bonds from the California Housing Finance Agency and are working with the Crescent City Housing Authority to offer project-based vouchers to new tenants.

On Monday, county resident and frequent public commenter Sam Strait asked, again, if the building’s tenants would be coming from out of the area. Housing Authority Director Megan Miller said the overwhelming majority are long-time Del Norte County residents.

“We desperately need this housing,” she said. “In fact, we have over double the amount of people to fill the senior units already on our waiting list.”

Both Miller and Wier compared Battery Point Apartments to Harbor Point Apartments, the DANCO Communities-led senior housing development on H Street that was fully occupied before its ribbon cutting earlier this year.

The development continues to draw criticism, however. City resident Doug Dye accused the developers of “total incompetence and gross negligence” that was totally avoidable.

Another resident, Tom Beers, said he emailed a document to the City Council that showed defects in the state’s approval of Synergy and Step Forward’s grant application because it’s not at a bus stop.

“It brings into question all the financing as far as grants, loans and other things they receive,” Beers said.

Hobson said several state agencies reviewed Synergy and Step Forward’s applications for funding and verified that they met their criteria.