MonteCedro Senior Project Meets Benchmark, Aiming for 2014 Opening

The MonteCedro senior housing project has sold 50 of its 186 units that are planned to be built on a currently vacant lot in Altadena, bringing it closer to the beginning of its construction phase.

The project, which is located on 2212 North El Molino Avenue, was originally the site of the William A. Scripps Home for Aged People, which closed in 2007. Residents from that home mostly relocated to an Alhambra retirement community run by the MonteCedro developer.

MonteCedro will likely be opned some time in late 2014, if the group can start construction by its proposed time of late 2013, according to Martha Tamburrano, the president of Episcopal Communities & Services, the company working on the MonteCedro development.

Based on the company's financing deals and agreements with the county, the development must sell 70 percent of its units before beginning construction, Tamburrano said.

The units are selling for $330,000 to $1 million, she said.  For that price, the senior gets to live in the unit for the rest of her life.  All the shared amenities of the senior housing project are included in the price.

The vacant property has garnered some resentment among local residents, who have made claims about , and some of whom took issue with .  The original discussions on the future of the lot included concerns about losing the Scripps home as well as worries about future construction and other issues pertaining to the new project.

Episcopal Communities & Services, which is based in Pasadena, recently changed their name from Episcopal Home Communities, a change meant to "better reflect its mission and new services for older adults in the greater Southern California," according to a press release from the group.