LGBT senior housing coming to a town near you

Published 08/18/2011

by Lois Pearlman

San Francisco native Pam Quiton says she would like nothing better than to move from her Mission District apartment to the proposed new LGBT affordable senior apartments known as the 55 Laguna Project.

“That would be a miracle,” she said in a telephone interview.

At 55, Quiton suffers from debilitating arthritis and finds it difficult to get around on her own. She shares her tiny apartment with her two cats and the bathroom down the hall with four other people. The neighborhood is noisy day and night, and dangerous, especially for a disabled woman living alone.

“It’d be nice to get a good night’s sleep without hearing people tell each other how much they hate each other,” she said.

That’s what brought her to a San Francisco Planning Commission meeting earlier this month, where she spoke in support of the 55 Laguna Project, which would include 330 multifamily market rate units, at least 32 affordable family units and – most important to Quiton – 109 apartments geared toward low-income gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people, 55 and older.

At the meeting, planning commissioners approved a $6.3 million funding deal between Wood Partners, which is developing the 362 multifamily units, and Openhouse and Mercy Housing, the agencies responsible for the LGBT portion of the project.

The project is slated to be built on the site of a now-abandoned UC Berkeley extension campus in the quietHayesValleyneighborhood. Wood Partners will pay the $6.3 million in lieu of fees to the city – and build the 32 affordable family units – in exchange for the right to build the market rate housing. The city will give the $6.3 million to Openhouse and Mercy to cover the cost of leasing the portion of the property that will accommodate the senior apartments.

Now that the city has approved the financial deal Openhouse Executive Director Seth Kilbourn said it will take another three to five years to raise additional money for construction and to navigate through the red tape of renovating a historic landmark.

Quiton said that she is willing to wait, and then throw her name into the lottery required for tenancy in a government subsidized apartment.

“By then I will probably need a more secure place,” she said.

Unfortunately for Quiton, there will likely be a lot of competition for moving into the 55 Laguna senior complex because it is the only affordable LGBT retirement facility on the drawing boards in the greater Bay Area.

“The reality is that there aren’t a lot of options for gay and lesbian elders,” Kilbourn said.

The only other option that is likely to appear in the foreseeable future straddles the golden hills of Santa Rosa, about 60 miles north of San Francisco and light years away in affordability.

Earlier this summer, Oakmont Senior Living inSonomaCountycompleted the model apartment for its upscale LGBT retirement community, Fountaingrove Lodge. Plans call for a full-spectrum, continuing care compound with six private bungalows, 64 independent living apartments, a 22-unit medical care/assisted living center and 12 affordable apartments for staff.

To snag one of these charmingly appointed housing units, residents will pay a $295,000 to $925,000 refundable deposit and then about $3,000 per month. (See related story.)

And that’s all there is in northernCalifornia. The only other gay retirement communities in the westernU.S.areTriangle Square, a 104-unit apartment complex inHollywoodfor low-income LGBT seniors, similar to the facility planned for55 Laguna Street, and RainbowVision inSanta Fe,New Mexico. RainbowVision is closer to the Fountaingrove Lodge model – condominiums and an assisted living center with all the amenities and social activities of a country club.

Barbary Lane, a senior housing complex in Oaklandthat was to be welcoming to LGBT seniors, dissolved in early 2009, just months after a splashy opening that featured Tales of the City author Armistead Maupin. The facility remains senior housing known as the Residences at the Lake Merritt Hotel but is not LGBT-specific.

The main reason why there aren’t more gay retirement communities on the horizon is the miserable economy and the lack of investors. According to Kilbourn it took years to find a development company that was willing to partner with Openhouse after the previous developer went bankrupt two years ago.

“Everyone’s falling victim to the depressed housing market. Our project stalled because the economy tanked,” he said.

And, with an estimated 3 million LGBT people over 60 currently living in the U.S., a number which is expected to double by 2030 according to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the available gay-friendly housing is seriously inadequate. InSan Francisco, alone, according to Kilbourn, there are approximately 25,000 LGBT seniors over 60.

“This is one of the major challenges facing LGBT elders now,” said Judy Evans, marketing director for the New York City-based Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders. Referring to LGBT people in their 70s, 80s and older, she said, “These people came of age when being gay was considered a psychological disorder. They are likely to be in the closet, or to go back in the closet when they look for senior housing.”

Kilbourn agrees with her.

“We haven’t done very much for our LGBT seniors who led the way and made the world we live in today,” Kilbourn said.

Most LGBT seniors who need help with their daily living end up as a misunderstood – and often closeted – minority in regular assisted living homes.

Gary Shepherd, who does elder outreach for Spectrum Gay, Lesbian andBisexualCenterin San Anselmo, said he has seen some unhappy situations.

InSan MateoCounty, an elderly man sat crying in his wheelchair day after day because he was a transsexual and none of the therapists in the home felt comfortable helping him with his depression. InSonomaCountya younger lesbian couple visited the elderly aunt of one of the women regularly, but were forced to stop after the aunt’s roommate made disparaging remarks about lesbians.

“At that time of your life you should not have to be afraid. Even if it isn’t dangerous, they [LGBT elders] are afraid that it might be,” Shepherd said.

In the meantime, until the economy improves and developers are able and willing to create more LGBT-friendly senior housing, Evans suggests that elders and their loved ones will have to take the initiative to find the best situations on their own.

“Ask your friends. Look at the facility’s non-discrimination policies. Has the staff been trained in GLBT issues? You will probably have to do your own research,” she said. “And remember, policy and practice are two different things.”