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A roomful of neighborhood activists went home disappointed Tuesday night, after the City Council approved funding for a housing project for seniors. 

Affordable Housing Associates, a local nonprofit developer, was awarded $874,000 of Housing Trust Fund money to help build “Outback Senior Homes,” a 44-unit project that would reserve a number of places for low-income seniors. 

The project was the only one of the six applicants awarded money from the city fund, and it was the only one that met with significant opposition from neighbors. 

Neighbors of the Outback project, who protested at the council meeting, argued the city should instead give the money to a competing project – Ursula Sherman Village, a Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency (BOSS) project for low-income and homeless families. 

“Don’t let it be said that Berkeley let go of the opportunity to house the homeless,” said Helene Hunter, whose home is directly behind the Outback site. 

Marissa Shaw, who lives next to the proposed site in the Dwight Way Apartments, echoed the sentiment. 

“I fully support projects for the homeless,” she said. “I think it would be wiser for the council to support the projects (like Ursula Sherman Village) that incorporate universal design.” 

The Dwight Way Apartments, constructed two years ago by Resources for Community Development, were themselves built with Housing Trust Fund money, and despite strong community opposition. 

In the end, the council voted 7-1 in favor of funding the Outback project, with Councilmember Betty Olds voting against and Mayor Shirley Dean absent. 

In December, the Housing Advisory Commission reviewed each of the applications to the Trust Fund and issued recommendations to the council on how the money should be awarded. 

The HAC’s recommendations were largely the same as those approved by the council. The HAC had recommended that the council not fund Ursula Sherman Village at this time, partly because of the high per-unit cost of the project to the city. 

The City Council partly reversed this part of the HAC’s recommendations by awarding $150,000 to BOSS for the project. 

Housing director Steve Barton explained on Wednesday that the money grant was partly symbolic – BOSS could use it to show other potential funders that the city supported the project.  

Outback Senior Homes is currently wending its way through the city’s development process. The Zoning Adjustment Board is scheduled to hear the project sometime in February. 

Kevin Zwick, AHA project manager, said on Wednesday that the Outback project has evolved considerably since it was first proposed, due to input from the neighbors. 

The first version of the project was to be a 33-unit complex for low-income families – largely the same clientele that Ursula Sherman Village is designed for – but that neighbors had objected.  

“It’s been a real challenge to be able to meet the concerns of the neighbors while at the same time having a financially feasible project and addressing the major housing needs of the city,” he said. 

"We’re excited that the city council has put their support behind this project.” 

Councilmember Linda Maio said on Wednesday that affordable senior housing was an important city priority. 

"Seniors are a particularly vulnerable population,” she said. “They have special needs, and we don’t have nearly enough senior housing.” 

Maio, one of the founders of Resources for Community Development, added that she hoped that non-profit builders would not be discouraged by neighborhood opposition. She said that they have to work with neighbors – but that neighbors have to understand them, too. 

“I’d like people to understand how difficult it is to do this kind of housing,” she said. “Developers can make a choice – they can decide to do housing for people with disabilities or seniors they can do other kinds of projects.”