There's a new affordable housing project for seniors in South Reno. "Vintage at the Crossings" celebrated its grand opening on Tuesday.  

The 230-unit apartment complex is almost completely full.

"It's age-restricted; it's 55 and up," said Dane Hillyard with Greenstreet Companies.  "It's income-qualified so you can't make over a certain amount to live here."

It's a project three years in the making. The first phase opened right before Christmas and the final phase just a few weeks ago. All but a handful are rented - a testament to the need for this kind of housing in the area.

"There's an extreme need; most of these residents are on Social Security, most are more mature than 55 and on a fixed income," Hillyard said. "They can't afford $1,500 a month in rent so these rents are about half of market rent."

It's the first project of its kind built in Northern Nevada since 2004.

"There are ways to make it happen and we've been doing it for a long time," Hillyard said. "We've done almost 3,000 units in Northern Nevada in the last 25 years. There was a period we couldn't do this because of the tax credits, and then the state created a new program to help us get the financing and the Federal Government changed some things around to help  make projects like this work."

The whole layout is designed for seniors - with walk-in showers and  lots of common spaces for parties, potlucks, bingo and crafts. There's a movie theater, game room, a business center and a gym.

"A lot of people say this is the nicest place they've lived their whole lives," Hillyard said.

Greenstreet, the company behind this project, has two more like it in the works.

"We're under construction on a big one in South Reno, 360 units which is a family-affordable project, and 288 in Northwest Reno, which is also family," Hillyard said. "It's not age-restricted so there are different designs; they're more like traditional walk-up units with bigger apartments, playgrounds and pools and those are under construction right now."