Downstairs, they dance to salsa and top 40 music.

Upstairs, they hold pot-luck suppers and play shuffleboard.

Welcome to the latest variation on the theme of mixed-use development in this case a retail complex combining restaurants and nightclubs with a senior citizens housing development in Burbank.

Media Village, the retail component, opened in late July with about 80 percent of the space rented so far. Above it, Silver Winds Burbank, the housing component, began renting units earlier this year and is fully occupied.

So far, the night revelers seem to be peacefully coexisting with the “early bird special” crowd. But the odd combination still has a few people scratching their heads and searching for the synergy, even if they don’t put it quite that way.

“We’d prefer a grocery store,” Vartanush Babaian said flatly as she walked along the plaza outside her apartment one recent morning.

Executives at Gangi Development Co., which built the $20 million project on a parcel that runs from Magnolia Boulevard to Palm Avenue north of Third Street, also concede that they would have liked a better fit between the two uses.

“It would be nice to have been able to have market-rate housing,” said Frank Gangi, president of the Glendale-based development company. “However the city had the requirement that they needed to have affordable housing.”

In 1995, Burbank’s redevelopment agency bought the land on which the project sits with money from its affordable housing fund, thus requiring that affordable housing be part of any future development. Because of the limitations on rental rates imposed by the city requirements, the developer had to add a more lucrative retail component to make the numbers pencil out.

“We saw the property itself as well located, being at the heart of the urban village,” said Gangi. “And we knew that the retail component would be at market-rate rents and the affordable-housing component would all be rent restricted. So the idea was to figure out how to get as much retail as you could while still providing the affordable housing.”

Silver Winds, a 146-unit housing development, is open to those 62 and older, provided their incomes meet certain criteria. They pay rents ranging from $419 to $600 a month.

Below at street level is the 55,000-square-foot, retail complex that includes a seafood restaurant, frozen yogurt shop, furniture store and the largest of the tenants, the 20,000-square-foot Gitana, a combination restaurant, billiards rooms, sports bar, cigar lounge and nightclub. On a second level sits Ross Business Institute, a 6,000-square-foot computer training facility.

The immediate area, which includes Burbank Village, a cozy street of small shops, and Media City Center, with mega-stores like Ikea and CompUSA, has been gentrifying at breakneck speed. And the developer saw a chance to bring in a mix of commercial tenants that would complement the neighborhood’s increasingly upscale demographics and pay the high lease rates.

The challenge was keeping the noise from the nightlife from floating up to the quiet haven of the retirees.

Gangi designed the complex so the retail component is separated from the senior housing project by a parking level for residents. Meanwhile, the parking for the retail component is below the retail shops. That way, there are essentially two concrete slabs that separate the two parts of the project, keeping noise from the disco and bars and the activity in the parking lot from disturbing residents.

“The concern on mixing these types of uses is one of noise, and the concern was there’s going to be noise coming from the nightclub affecting the housing. But we were able to mitigate that with the parking,” Gangi said.

So far at least, the design seems to be working.

Carol Leaf, who sold her Burbank home after 43 years to move into Silver Winds with her husband, said she was pretty worried about her downstairs neighbors, particularly since her apartment is directly above Gitana. “I was afraid there would be a cigar bar and we’d get smoke,” she said. “But there isn’t any, and we don’t hear them at all.”

Indeed, some of the tenants said the activity downstairs is part of the attraction of the development, making them feel safe when they walk along the street.

“One night we all went there after the grand opening, and of course, the music was loud, but it’s nice because they have security and this complex is in a safety zone,” said Mary Antonello, drawing agreement from her neighbor, Arutyun Avakyan.

The concept of mixed-use developments first emerged in the 1920s with the idea of having self-contained communities with residents and the services they need butcher shops, bakeries, dry cleaners and the like in one immediate area.

“In the past five to 10 years, mixed use has become hot again among designers who call themselves new urbanists,” said Paul Novak, an urban planner with Glendale-based Novak+Associates.

Providing opportunities to live and work in the same neighborhood cuts down on automobile usage while helping keep the commercial areas vital and crime-free. “You don’t have a downtown that rolls up sidewalks at 5,” Novak said.

The Gangi development holds true to some of those principles. The 200-plus seniors living in Silver Winds make use of the different neighborhood shops, bringing an economic boost to the area that can generate more potential businesses. “It may not benefit the nightclub, but it will benefit the other stores,” Novak said.

At the same time, the location of a senior-housing development within a densely populated shopping district helps the residents, many of whom don’t have cars, by offering services and entertainment within walking distance.

Antonello said she looked at several developments before settling on Silver Winds, because she liked the layout of the complex and its proximity to the shops. “I wanted to get to an area where I can walk and see the sights,” she said.

The shopkeepers also seem keenly aware of their older neighbors. Gitana’s working partner, Andres De Leon, said she is looking into the possibility of a seniors’ night. “Maybe bring in a band or a disc jockey and bring sodas and coffee and let them swing dance,” said De Leon. “They have something to look forward to and socialize a little more.”

“Oh, that would be nice,” exclaimed Antonello. “Maybe line dancing. We haven’t gotten into that yet.”