At Aloe Palm Canyon, modernist architecture meets affordable housing for seniors

More than 100 people representing a dozen of different organizations gathered Thursday to celebrate the opening of Aloe Palm Canyon, an affordable housing apartment complex with 71 units for low-income seniors that brings high-end modernist design principles to Palm Springs’ most vulnerable residents.

The two-story development at 1475 North Palm Canyon Drive includes 25 units designated as permanent supportive housing for individuals who have experienced homelessness.

“Today truly is a powerful moment in the city of Palm Springs history,” Palm Springs Mayor Ron deHarte said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “It shows the ongoing and continued progress and the collective vision of our entire city council for a more compassionate and inclusive Palm Springs.”

The $45 million project represents a departure from affordable housing developments in other cities, with Wil Carson, founder and design director at the company that brought the development to life — 64North — emphasizing that modernist design principles belong to everyone, not just the wealthy.

“The principles of modernism that are so woven into the fabric of the city, they’re not just about light and form,” Carson said following a ceremonial ribbon cutting. “They’re also about how architecture can shape social interaction and create social good.”

Carson noted that early modernist architects like Richard Neutra and Albert Frey, who are responsible for the city’s most recognizable buildings, didn’t just build houses for the wealthy but also designed social housing projects.

“These design principles aren’t just for the wealthy or the fortunate, but they’re for everybody in our community, and we can support everyone and give them the beautiful home that they deserve,” Carson said.

Another recently-opened affordable housing project, the 60-unit Monarch Apartment Homes, is also thoughtfully designed with modernist principles.

Carson considered the context of the location when designing the building.

“You think about the intensity of urban growth downtown and then some of the historic buildings that are up on Vista Chino, and this site was a little bit of a lull in the middle of the city,” he said. “I think it was an opportunity to stitch it back into that urban fabric.” 

The building features floor-to-ceiling glass windows, terrazzo flooring, sophisticated interior finishes and multiple landscaped open-air seating areas. The ground floor offers amenities like a fitness room, a laundry room, a computer room with a library, and a fully furnished community room with a demonstration kitchen.

“We wanted [the kitchen] to be perfect for gatherings and workshops that inspire connection and combat social isolation which is so difficult among the senior population,” Karl Lott, chairman of the board of West Hollywood Community Housing Corporation (WHCHC), the building’s developer, said.

Lott pointed to WHCHC’s track record of pairing affordable housing with on-site supportive services.

“Our services have increased health outcomes, they’ve reduced isolation for seniors, they’ve improved the overall wellness of people living with chronic illnesses, and of course, they have helped to break the cycle of poverty for working families,” he said.

DAP Health will provide a full-time case manager on site, while Riverside University Health System will also offer supportive services to residents.

“It’s very difficult to build a foundation of wellness and recovery, which is core to our mission, when you don’t know where you’re going to sleep tonight,” Marcus Cannon, a deputy director with Riverside University Health System behavioral health said.

“Housing is healthcare,” said Eve E. Fromberg-Edelstein, board chair at DAP Health. “So much of one’s well-being begins with a comfortable, affordable, and dependable roof over your head.”

The project received funding from multiple sources, including California’s Housing and Community Development Department, Riverside County, the city of Palm Springs, First Citizens Bank, JLL Capital Markets, and the Low Income Investment Fund.

All the units are reserved to people aged 55 and older with incomes ranging from 0% to 80% Area Median Income (AMI) which comes out to a monthly income between $0 and $3,700. Rents range from from $903 to $1,480 per month depending on income level.

Mike Walsh with Riverside County Housing and Workforce Solutions said the county has invested more than $20 million in affordable housing over the last several years.

“Projects like these are so important,” Walsh said, noting that first-time homelessness is increasing in the county, particularly among seniors who can fall into precarity after losing a spouse. 

Craig, a new resident of Aloe Palm Canyon, said he had experienced 15 years of on-and-off homelessness before moving into the development.

“Six months – rent increase. A year? Rent increase. Another year? Rent increase,” he said, describing his experience before moving into Aloe Palm Canyon. “Suddenly, I’m now on the edge and I’m not really able to afford [rent].”

More than two dozen residents have moved in, 25 future residents have signed leases, and another 21 still have to sign. Residents were chosen out of a lottery, with Riverside County prioritizing some with the most acute needs for the full-service units. The waitlist for the 71 units was more than 350 people long, signaling the great need for more projects like Aloe Palm Canyon.

DeHarte said the opening of Aloe Palm Canyon represents 200 additional housing units that have opened in Palm Springs in just the last year and a half.

The mayor said he is looking forward to the next project, that could end up being double the size of Aloe Palm Canyon. The city is eyeing 5.65 acres of city-owned land at the northeast corner of North Gene Autry Trail and Mission Drive for more affordable housing units with wraparound services.

For the project’s designer, Carson, modernism is about much more than flat roofs or breezeblocks, and it can’t be divorced from its philosophy. The ideals of modernism, rather than being frozen in amber, can still be the foundation for buildings in the future.

“These principles that came to us from modernism, they’re not something that’s about the past. We can build these here today.”

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