BREA

The Civic Center Apartments at Birch Street and Randolph Avenue recently completed a renovation that included new walls, paint, roofs and landscaping. The make-

over was facilitated by a $128,000 loan from the city and $60,000 from the property owner.

The taxpayer money for renovation is part of a long-term city plan to spruce up six troubled neighborhoods outlined in a September 1998 report. Although the city’s plans were to provide better housing for low-income families, the property owner said the new look and market pressure will force two-bedroom rent prices at the complex to go from $710 to $750 for future Civic Center residents.

“We’re so below market [value], and people go on waiting lists to get in,” said Kim Silvera, a partner at Johnston Enterprises. “I felt like that was a fair price.”