Construction at Villa Siena site nearing completion

Construction on the low-income apartments on the corner of Putnam Avenue and E Street is about 85 percent complete and should be done by late August, the project’s superintendent said Thursday.

Butch Henry, who was hired by developer Pacific West Builders to head up the project, said he hopes to have construction on Villa Siena Family Apartments all wrapped up by Aug. 27.
“Hopefully earlier,” Henry said.

The seven-building complex, which will feature 24 one-bedroom apartments, 15 two-bedroom apartments and 30 three-bedroom apartments, will serve as a replacement for the old Porterville Hotel.

Built in 1888, the Porterville Hotel, located on the corner of Olive Avenue and Main Street, had been a low-income housing site for about two decades. In 2006, however, the structure was condemned because of its deplorable condition.

“That’s the reason why we are here today, because of the condition the building was allowed to fall into,” Porterville City Manager John Lollis said. “The owners allowed it to go into disrepair. It’s not fit for people to work or live in.”

The city had to identify a replacement low-income housing project before any action — be it demolition or rehabilitation — can be taken at the Porterville Hotel, which was recently appraised at $500,000, Lollis said. The site’s developer, Porterville Hotel Investors, owes more than $2 million to the city, the state and a private lender, he added.

The Porterville Hotel only offered single-person apartments and had community bathrooms, showers and kitchens.

“This made it hard to lease because people wanted their own bathrooms, showers and kitchens,” Lollis said.

Villa Siena will have such accommodations in each room. Each unit will also have a washer and a dryer, Henry said.

“They’re all self-contained, each unit,” he said.

Villa Siena also has a 20-foot-by-25-foot swimming pool, a 28-foot-by-39-foot tot-lot area with artificial grass and play equipment, five carports with enough space to accommodate 70 vehicles, a fitness center, and a community room with a kitchen, a conference room and a computer room.

The $23.5 million project has seven different funding sources, including the City of Porterville’s Redevelopment Agency, which kicked in $930,000.

Representatives from the various agencies providing money for the project go out to the 2.7-acre project site on the 26th of every month to make sure Henry and his crew are on schedule.

“Right now, they’re extremely happy,” Henry said. “We’re on schedule.”

Twenty-four subcontractors are working on the project. On Thursday, crews were busy pouring concrete for sidewalks and around the tot-lot area, completing electrical work, painting and installing alarm systems, cabinets, carpeting and plumbing systems, just to name a few tasks. Henry said power will be coming to the site July 26.

As of Thursday, a management company for the complex had not been hired, Henry said.

Contact Alex K.W. Schultz at 784-5000, Ext. 1050 or aschultz@portervillerecorder.com.