School classrooms now welcoming homes for elderly renters
LONDON: School classrooms are increasingly being recycled for the use of the elderly in persuit of low cost rental housing.
Twin Palmetto trees towering two stories tall flanked the entrance of the former Henry P. Archer Elementary School. Potted plants lined the sidewalks and gardenia blooms scented unseasonably warm winter air.
Built in 1934, the historic school in Charleston’s East Side neighborhood housed classrooms where civil rights heroine Septima Clark once taught — until she was fired for belonging to the NAACP.
In late March, Archer will welcome a small wave in the “silver tsunami” of elderly low-income residents struggling to pay market-rate rents. The former school on Nassau Street has been transformed into 89 studios and one- and two-bedroom apartments. Rents range from $510 to $1,312 a month.
Construction manager Jonny Bunao is proud about how Archer’s carefully preserved prewar architectural details — airy 20-foot ceilings, gleaming hardwood floors, exposed brick walls, tall storm-resistant windows — give the apartments a sleek elegance and unique character.
Bunao said amenities include three elevators, an indoor fitness center and computer lab, as well as an adjacent building that will enclose a garage with spaces for 30 vehicles.
“We’re building an outdoor pavilion and a community garden and this neighborhood is great for residents who want to stay active,” Bunao said. “There’s a public pool down the street, two groceries and a public library within walking distance.”
The apartments are designed for independent living so they would be inappropriate for seniors with dementia. But Bunao admires the stoves being installed that have a safety feature for the occasionally forgetful. The burner turns off when its sensor doesn’t feel the weight of a pot or pan.
A few apartments are using tech tools to aid hearing- and visually impaired tenants.
U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn came straight from giving a speech at a low-income housing conference hosted at a boutique downtown Charleston hotel to tour Archer School Apartments.
Even as Archer is transforming from teaching the community’s youngest to housing its oldest, the Columbia Democrat worried. Clyburn said, “like many cities, Charleston is facing an affordable rental crisis.”
According to the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, the estimated median retirement savings for a baby boomer is $202,000. For a 67-year-old who lives for another 20 years, that translates into $10,100 per year in addition to Social Security benefits. If the cost of rent continues trending upward at the current rate, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development predicts that 39 percent of boomers won’t be able to afford to live alone.
The $42 million Archer project was developed by local nonprofit, The Humanities Foundation, with several public and private partners. The foundation was created in 1992 by Bob and Tracy Doran of the James Doran Co. real estate firm. The foundation’s mission is to develop affordable housing for many demographics, including homeless veterans, low-income families and seniors. Humanities now has an affordable housing portfolio that includes 25 apartment complexes across South Carolina, Louisiana, Virginia and Georgia.
Given current trends, Charleston renters will need the foundation’s help.
Charleston rents spiked 21 percent in 2021. This month, Apartment List tracked the city’s median one-bedroom rent to $1,423.
