CHISPA transforms former party spot into senior village.

he sound of pounding hammers mixes with the buzz of morning traffic on North Main Street in Salinas. The motel rooms are hollow and only the white, wooden shells of the former Rodeo Inn and Travelodge remain. Construction workers sink nails into new framing, the beginnings of a CHISPA senior apartment complex called Sherwood Village.

It wasn’t easy, however, for the affordable housing builder to get to this point.

As expected, the 47-year-old building had its share of asbestos and mold. But the motel came with other intrinsic impurities—namely prostitutes and drug dealers.

Motel staff frequently called the police to ward off the sex and drug trade, says CHISPA Project Manager Paul Tran, but it didn’t let up until construction started in December 2006. CHISPA ran the motel under the name Salinas Valley Lodge, starting at the end of 2005.

The motel, located off Highway 101, has historically been a spot to party. With banquet facilities for 700 people, Del Webb developed the site as the Wonderlodge in 1960.

Countless couples had their wedding receptions in the motel’s lounge while cowboys from the nearby Salinas Rodeo grounds drank at the horseshoe-shaped bar.

“I’m sure the people that will end up living here will have memories of having gone to weddings here,” says Dana Cleary, director of real estate development for CHISPA, while standing beside a portable trailer at the construction site.

Come spring 2008 seniors will be playing bocce ball in the complex’s courtyard and walking across the street to the bingo hall.  

“This is going to kind of make clean the palette of what [the motel] has been,” Cleary says. “The most wholesome part of the year was when all the cowboys came and got drunk.”

In addition to reducing the Salinas Police Department’s call volume, Sherwood Village will boost the city’s affordable housing stock. The 173 motel rooms will be converted into 123 reasonably-priced apartments for people 55 years and older. Rents will range from $336 for a one-bedroom apartment to $682 a month for a two-bedroom unit, depending on a person’s income.

Another benefit of the $22 million project: Instead of paving over ag land, CHISPA is reusing an existing structure to provide housing.

“Since land is so limited, it’s the perfect infill development for the city of Salinas,” says Tran, as a backhoe dumps scraps into one of three large bins near where the motel’s pool used to be.

Although the motel is now just vacant structure, CHISPA salvaged what it could. The affordable housing builder donated the furniture, bedding and televisions from one building to Rancho Cielo, a Salinas gang intervention group, while the rest of the furnishings went to the Salvation Army. Demolition contractor Randazzo Enterprises Inc. will recycle and resell a lot of leftovers, Tran says, like the copper piping and the air conditioners.

CHISPA will add new architectural elements to the site as well. The two story buildings will be expanded by about 10 feet to make room for a full bedroom and kitchen in each unit. All first floor units will have a patio, and second floor apartments will have a six-foot-deep balcony.

Cleary says Sherwood Village will be an ideal location for seniors with limited mobility. A new 5,000-square-feet common building will have a computer room, exercise equipment and laundry facilities. Organizations including the Salinas Adult School and Alliance on Aging will offer art classes and tax services, respectively. Other amenities include a spa, bocce ball court, barbecue area and a resident garden. Moreover, Sherwood Park is located just north of the site, while a pharmacy and a market are across North Main Street.

“We hope [residents] won’t really need cars that much,” Cleary says.