Berkeley recently took a step toward building more affordable housing for seniors, breaking ground on a four-story structure near the Ashby BART Station.
The building, dubbed Harper Crossing, will contain 42 one-bedroom units that are expected to house about 75 low-income seniors at 3231 Martin Luther King Jr. Way.
To qualify, applicants must be 62 or older and make between $19,000 and $44,000 a year — that’s 30 to 60 percent of the area’s median income. Section 8 voucher holders also qualify.
Susan Friedland, executive director of Satellite Affordable Housing Associates (SAHA), says the project has been long in the making. Although the nonprofit developer took over about four years ago, the project was first proposed about 20 years ago.