Deadline extended for displaced Journey’s End residents to apply for new senior apartments

Former residents of the Journey’s End mobile home park who were displaced by the 2017 Tubbs Fire have more time to apply to live at the new affordable apartments going up on the Mendocino Avenue site.

The application deadline to lease one of the first 94 units at Laurel, which will replace the park, closed May 1, but developer Burbank Housing extended the deadline to May 15 for former park residents.

The Santa Rosa nonprofit is also increasing outreach efforts to former residents to gauge their interest in returning. Thirty-two former residents had applied by last Friday.

“One of the goals for the redevelopment of the former Journey’s End mobile home park has been to welcome back the former residents who want to return,” Burbank’s Chief Executive Larry Florin said. “We felt it prudent to both extend the deadline and to engage in further outreach to ensure we reach as many former residents as possible.”

The first of three phases at Laurel is expected to be completed later this month and residents could begin moving in as early as late June.

Once complete, the project will add 162 apartments for low-income seniors 62 and older who earn between 30% and 60% of the area median income. Rents at Laurel range from $668 for a one-bedroom to a maximum of $1,605 for a two-bedroom depending on household income and size.

The long-awaited redevelopment marks a milestone for Santa Rosa’s recovery more than five years after the Tubbs Fire. Two park residents died and 117 of the park’s 161 homes were destroyed as the fire burned over the hills in northeast Santa Rosa and across Highway 101.

Former residents interested in a unit must apply online or call Burbank at 707-526-9782 for more information. Applications are due by 4:30 p.m. May 15.

More than 260 prospective tenants applied by the May 1 deadline for units, which Burbank officials said speaks to the need for more affordable housing.

All applicants will be entered into a lottery to determine in what order their applications will be processed and they will be notified by mail of next steps. Journey’s End residents will be given priority in the lottery.

You can reach Staff Writer Paulina Pineda at 707-521-5268 or paulina.pineda@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @paulinapineda22.