_{Thumbnail photo: Changing state regulations and water damage from winter storms sidelined construction on the senior housing portion of Battery Point Apartments in Crescent City. | Photo by James Brooks}

Construction is expected to resume at Battery Point Apartments in about two weeks, a representative of the Los Angeles-based nonprofit behind the affordable housing project said.

The project’s subcontractors are paid and a crane will be on site later this week, Synergy Community Development Corporation President Bill Rice told the Crescent City Council on Monday. The investor working with Synergy and its partner, Step Forward Communities, also brought in a construction management firm to remediate water damage to the senior housing structure.

Rice was reluctant to give an exact date of completion, but he told councilors that Synergy and Step Forward Communities are working with their insurance company to ensure the remediation is “done right.”

“We’re committed to the whole $115 million investment,” he said, adding that he would give that date to the city as soon as he could. “I’d rather us get it right than tell you this is the date we’re targeting. We just have to deliver it right, so our incentive is to do that as expeditiously as possible.”

Synergy, its partner Step Forward Communities and their general contractor, Argenta Construction Group, broke ground on the 162-unit affordable housing development at Gary and E streets in September 2024.

Their goal was to get Building A, the senior housing structure, online by November 2025, but they ran into some challenges. According to Rice, the first had to do with meeting stricter state seismic safety standards connected with a geotechnical report and the site’s soils. 

As a result, the modular building will have 20-inches of concrete in the stairwells and will consist of 275 spot welds for each of the 160 modules to complete the structure, Rice said. That created delays the developers were trying to avoid, he said. 

Another challenge Synergy and Step Forward Communities is working through is remediating the water damage created by “critical storms.” The developers’ lender and equity investor, the Royal Bank of Canada, hired Vertex, a national construction management firm who brought on a commercial environmental hygienist to alleviate the water damage to Building A, Rice said.

“We have a significant scope (of work) now that’s being bid out to one national and one local vendor for doing the remediation work for Building A,” he said. “That will be taking everything out, redoing everything and getting rid of all the water damage. All the walls will be removed, the appliances and everything, and it will be put in new. Vertex will be handling and overseeing that and will be supplementing the general contractor.”

In addition to looking to remobilize June 29, the developers of Battery Point Apartments are working with city staff and Pacific Power to hook Building A up to electricity. Pacific Power is also “finishing up the work” to deliver electricity to Buildings B and C, Rice said.

A crane will be deployed later this week to set the final eight modules on Building A and to put the envelope on the building, Rice said. He noted that the building will be subject to state and federal inspection to ensure it meets California Department of Housing and Community Development guidelines and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development guidelines.

“That was one of the questions you asked,” Rice told Councilors, referring to a public comment he gave at a May 4 meeting. “Everything will be inspected and tested before anybody moves into any of those units. That is our commitment.”

Synergy and Step Forward Communities are using a $7.5 million Infill Infrastructure Grant from the California Department of Housing and Community Development 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 as well as support from the Crescent City Housing Authority, which will offer project-based vouchers to the buildings’ residents.

No senior will pay more than 30% of their income on rent, Rice told the Wild Rivers Outpost at the groundbreaking ceremony in 2024. On Monday, he said that means senior residents will pay “no more than $500 to $680” for a one-bedroom apartment and “no more than $593 to $812” for a two bedroom. 

The units in Buildings B and C will be offered to families, most of whom make 70% of the area median income. Rice referred to this group of households as the “missing middle” and said they might be working at Walmart or Home Depot or a local restaurant. They may also have “beginning hospital job” at Sutter Coast, he said.

“All that would allow them to have roots here, to start here and not be priced out,” Rice said. “They would be able to save money, hopefully, for a house and give someone else the opportunity to rent the apartment unit as they transition in the community.”

Step Forward Communities is also offering free dental care to apartment residents twice a year through Travelers’ Health, Rice said.

Councilor Jason Greenough was impressed by the offer of free dental care, saying it was a new thing for him.

Rice said to receive funding for the process, Synergy and Step Forward Communities was required to offer a community service to its residents. Dental care is one of the more expensive services, but he said the two nonprofits make it work by having Travelers’ Health visit Crescent City twice a year before going to the other properties the organizations’ manage.

“It helps folks put those dollars back into the community,” Rice said, adding that Synergy has a commitment to provide dental care at Battery Point Apartments for 15 years. “The managers will have signup sheets for this. We encourage folks to take advantage of the service, the service is paid for, so we like to get as many people involved as possible.”

City resident Doug Dye thanked Rice for his presentation, saying he was “sick of looking at that thing.” Dye said he hoped the project comes to fruition.