Property Rezoned for Senior Care Facility

The city has rezoned a 1 1/2-acre property at Westminster Boulevard and Hoover Street to allow construction of a care facility for seniors.

The property is near four apartment buildings for more active senior citizens. The new building, which will have 81 units in three stories, will be designed for seniors who need more living assistance on a daily basis, officials said.

City Council members recently approved the zone change from public use to high-use residential, the final step before construction can begin. Huntington Properties, a Huntington Beach-based firm, will develop the complex.

Westminster Auditorium, which was built in the 1940s and has served as a community center and gathering place for more than five decades, will be torn down to make room for the senior complex. The auditorium is the last remaining piece of the historic 17th Street School.

In November, the city sold the land for $630,000. The money was one of the final funding components for a new $6-million cultural arts center that the city has been planning for years.

Construction of the new arts center is expected to begin this year.