Proposed Affordable Housing for Older Adults
& a New Senior Center
📍 Civic Center Site (187 East L Street) &
📍 Scout Site (East L Street / East 4th Street)
Benicia, CA 94510
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The City of Benicia is exploring the future of two sites to create new affordable housing and an enhanced senior center that better serve the community and allow older adults to age comfortably in the heart of the city.
Led by Eden Housing, Engage FORA, Architects FORA, BASE Landscape Architecture, and BKF Engineers, in close partnership with the City of Benicia, this process puts community voices at the center. Your ideas will help guide a vision for the housing, senior center, and new public promenade that reflect local priorities, enhance the character of the city, and truly serves its people.
Project Details / Upcoming Events / Join the Conversation / Community Engagement Overview/
Past Events / FAQs / Who Benefits from Affordable Housing?
/ At a Glance:
Through a competitive City process launched in 2025, Eden Housing and FORA were selected to explore affordable housing across two sites in Benicia’s central area: the Civic Center site at 187 East L Street and the Scout Site at East L & East 4th Street. Together, these sites have the potential to provide approximately 100 affordable apartments.
The project focuses on housing for older adults (age 55+), with primarily one-bedroom homes and studios designed to support comfortable, independent living. At the same time, the plan includes a redeveloped Senior Center that will continue to serve Benicia residents with modern community space and programming.
By bringing housing and community services together in a walkable, centrally located area, the project supports the City’s Housing Element goals while helping older adults remain part of the community they love. By co-locating housing near vibrant city amenities, recreation, and shopping, we can support the needs of older adults by making daily needs easily accessible and encouraging social connection, active lifestyles, and overall wellbeing.
Scout Site
East L Street & East 4th Street
The Scout Site at East L Street and East 4th Street is a vacant property located just a short distance from Benicia’s civic center and downtown amenities, just across L Street from the Community Center.
This concept explores adding affordable housing for older adults (55+) in a way that fits comfortably into the surrounding residential neighborhood. The building would include community-oriented residential amenities such as shared gathering spaces, gardens, and outdoor areas for residents.
The design emphasizes landscaped front yards, native plantings, and walkable access to nearby services, helping the new homes feel connected to the surrounding neighborhood while providing a comfortable place for residents to age in place.
Civic Center Site
187 East L Street
The Civic Center site at 187 East L Street sits at the heart of Benicia’s civic and community spaces. Located near the Public Library, City Hall, City Gym, sports courts, and City Park, the site is within easy walking distance of many services residents use every day.
This concept explores replacing the existing Senior Center with a new, modern community facility while adding affordable homes for older adults (55+) in two new apartment buildings. The design organizes the site around a public promenade and town square, creating a welcoming connection between the surrounding civic buildings and the neighborhood.
New housing would sit alongside community spaces, allowing residents to live close to services while keeping the Senior Center as an active hub for community programs and gatherings.
Upcoming Events Coming Soon!
/ Join the Conversation
Share Your Ideas 💡
Can’t join us in person? No problem. Take a minute to share your thoughts about the project using the quick form below. Your input helps shape what gets built.
New questions are posted every few months—check back to stay involved!
Stay Connected 📬
Sign up to join our email list - where you will receive updates on the project, upcoming events, and opportunities to get involved in shaping what gets built.
If you are interested in applying to be a resident, once the project is complete, please sign up to the Eden Housing interest list.
/ Community Engagement Process
Design is better when diverse perspectives are at the table. Buildings that best provide for the needs of future residents, reflect their community and place, and are deeply valued by the community, are created by listening to those they strive to serve and including them throughout the design process.
✅Phase 1 / Connections Phase
We always begin community engagement by developing an understanding of the project’s context, including its location, history, and surrounding community. During the Connections Phase, we interviewed community leaders such as community organizations, non-profits, local businesses, and neighborhood leaders to gain hyperlocal insights.
✅Phase 2 / Listening Phase
Back in December, we completed the Listening Phase with two great engagement events! Between this event, we reached over 160 Benicia residents including the wider public and local older adults. This phase was all about understanding the community’s collective values and visions. Community insights collected help ensure the project is designed to best serve its community. Please find a summary of the events below, and a Listening Report with more detailed findings linked below:
Link to the Listening Phase Report
Overall themes we heard:
🏡 Strong community support for affordable housing for older adults in Benicia
👣 Valuable insights into how community members currently use and interact with the project sites
🎨 Interest in Craftsman-style architecture for the exterior design
🏢 Preference for 3-story buildings rather than 4-story structures
🚶♀️🚴 Interest in improved site accessibility, including safer pedestrian and bicycle connections and ADA-friendly pathways and design features that support mobility and comfort for older adults
🚗 Clear priority to maintain existing public parking spaces and add resident parking, so the project continues to serve current community needs
🖌️ Strong enthusiasm for public art by local artists, with murals emerging as the most favored option
🌿 Excitement about public amenities, including community gardens, outdoor amphitheaters/classrooms, pet-friendly spaces, diverse seating areas, and playful or interactive elements for the public
Past Listening Phase Events:
Holiday Market Pop Up
December 13, 2025 | First Street, Benicia
To connect with a broad cross-section of the community, the project team hosted a pop-up engagement booth at Benicia’s popular Holiday Market on First Street. The event invited residents to learn about the proposed affordable senior housing and enhanced Senior Center and to share their ideas about design priorities for both sites.
Despite cold and windy weather, the pop-up attracted more than 120 participants, providing valuable feedback on housing needs, neighborhood character, and community priorities. This informal setting helped reach residents who might not typically attend traditional public meetings.
Senior Center Workshop
December 15, 2025 | Benicia Senior Center
To better understand the perspectives of the community most directly connected to the project, the team hosted a senior-focused workshop at the Benicia Senior Center. The event invited older adults to learn about the proposed affordable senior housing and enhanced Senior Center and to share their ideas about design priorities for both sites.
The workshop welcomed 40 participants, creating an opportunity for thoughtful discussion about daily needs, accessibility, community spaces, and the role of the Senior Center in Benicia. Feedback gathered during this session helped ensure that the project reflects the values and experiences of older adults in the community.
🔜Phase 3 / Co-creation Phase
Next we will enter the Co-creation Phase, which begins by reporting back the findings and major themes and values heard during the Listening Phase. A series of interactive design activities help inform the project design. Upholding a process based on transparency and integrity, the design team will describe the requirements and key design drivers for the development and only present feasible options. A summary of Past Co-creation Events will be added below as they occur.
Phase 4 / Accountability Phase
The Accountability Phase is a robust effort to gather and organize the valuable feedback we receive from the community throughout the engagement period, distill it into key themes and values, and clearly document how those insights are integrated into the project design. Once complete, a final report will be linked below highlighting the priorities and perspectives shared by the community and illustrating how input has meaningfully shaped the project.
Frequently-asked Questions
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These sites support the City’s goals for using land efficiently and creating compact, walkable development in the central area. Both sites were selected as sites for affordable housing by the City’s Housing Element - a mandatory state-level policy that requires local governments to create and implement a plan to meet its community's housing needs.
Affordable housing for older adults has been consistently identified by the Benicia community as a priority over a number of years, including during the planning process for the Eastern Gateway and Housing Element.
Through a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) process, the City prioritized affordable housing for older adults, one of Benicia’s largest and fastest-growing populations. Because these sites are centrally located and highly walkable, they offer older adults easy access to social activities, recreation, shopping, and essential services.
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Communities thrive when all members have affordable, safe, and stable housing. In addition to new affordable homes for older adults, the project will deliver a brand-new, enhanced Senior Center and new public outdoor spaces for the wider community to enjoy.
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All Senior Center programs will temporarily relocate to the Community Center during construction, ensuring services continue without interruption.
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All City facilities will remain open during construction. While some disruption is expected during construction, the project team will work to minimize noise, traffic, and other impacts as much as possible.
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After construction: The project is designed to replace all existing public parking and add dedicated parking for residents. During construction: Yes, but parking will be limited and may shift as work progresses.
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The project will include dedicated public parking spaces as well as separate parking reserved for residents.
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The project is currently in the Community Engagement phase. This will be followed by a City entitlements process, which we hope to receive approval by the end of 2026. Once the project is entitled, the next steps are to assemble all financing and get a building permit ready. This process typically takes a year or so. Finally, we estimate construction to take around 2 years.
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The project will use a mix of state, federal, and local funding sources.
Exact financing structure will not be known until after the project entitlements phase, since the project must be entitled before applying for funding.
Cities often sell land at significantly reduced cost as a contribution to the project, which can unlock multiple public benefits for the City.
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At least one member of each household must be age 55 or older and the household must meet the income limit requirements of making less than 50% AMI. (AMI = area median income for Solano County based on the State's annual published income limits). Please see the chart below for more info on income eligibility.
When applications open, all eligible applicants can apply. If there are more eligible applicants than available homes, Eden Housing will conduct a lottery. The lottery will be run in compliance with Fair Housing laws.
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Rents are then calculated as 30% of the income level limit associated with the size of their household. Households with housing authority vouchers would pay only 30% of their income, whatever it may be.
