A 100 percent affordable “senior housing with supportive services building,” one of the first of its kind, is expected to open in New Rochelle this fall.
West End 2000, an urban renewal project, is The New Rochelle Neighborhood Revitalization Corp.”™s (NRNRC) most ambitious and most complex project to date.
The $60 million development includes a 102-unit affordable senior building and 66 single-family duplex town homes for first-time homebuyers.
“The trade-off for us is that the mission and goal was to provide a 100 percent affordable like-assisted living facility, but the cost to run a full medical-licensed model was far in excess of what could be done from an operations standpoint,” said Charles DePasquale, NRNRC executive vice president. “So we maintained the objective of providing independent senior housing with supportive services. The big trade-off and benefit to seniors in a very specific income range is the fee.”
The site is located on approximately four acres in west New Rochelle, bordered by Union Avenue, First Street, Jones Street and Second Street.
A 30-foot-wide city storm and sanitary sewer easement travels through the site.
Phase one, which includes the senior building and 25 town homes, sits on 2.5 acres.
Garito Manor at Union Square, the senior living community, offers studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments. Â
Amenities at Garito Manor at Union Square include two meals a day, served restaurant style, on-site beauty parlor and barber shop, lounge, library, computer room, weekly housekeeping, 24 hour security, transportation to medical appointments, and complimentary utilities such as gas, electric and water.
There will also be activities, such as art workshops, exercise programs and local trips. Â
Rent and services are more affordable than most assisted living facilities, with a range of a $2,200 to $2,900 monthly fee.
DePasquale said because of the funding sources NRNRC received, “we”™re reaching out to seniors who earn 50 to 60 percent average median income in Westchester” a range of $32,000 to $45,000.
“We”™re marketing ourselves as independent living with supportive services,” said Dana Nolan of Manhattan-based Isabella Management Services (IMSI), a company that specializes in planning and managing senior living. “Our role is to get involved very much in the beginning, during the planning stages, to ensure the building is designed in such a way that the architectural design is suitable for the senior population. We also do a lot of preliminary budget analysis; we hire the staff and oversee the entire marketing process. Once the building opens, we take on the management role and oversee the operation through an executive director.”
The first phase of 25 town homes, The Townhouses at Westway, was completed in 2007.
The town homes are completely occupied; they sold for $240,000 for a 3-bedroom, 1.5 bath unit with approximately 1,500 square feet of livable space; they come with basements. The non-basement units cost $225,000.
Preference levels were established for the town homes. Because the project was in an urban renewal area of dilapidated and dated housing, families who lived there and were relocated had first preference.
The second preference group was city of New Rochelle employees, followed by city of New Rochelle residents, and the fourth was Westchester County residents.
The townhouses were designed so they are integrated in an aesthetic manner within the fabric of the community.
“We try to accomplish good design, revitalize the neighborhood and provide affordable housing to the individuals and families that need it,” DePasquale said. “This was in huge demand because of the high-cost area that New York is in.”
Twenty to 30 years ago, the neighborhood was a high-crime, socially negative area.
“All that”™s changed,” DePasquale said. “What were rental units are now predominantly owner-occupied, and with that we see an upgrade into the community itself, with people putting money into their own homes.”
The idea for affordable housing on this site goes back 35 years with the vision of Frank J. Garito, former mayor of New Rochelle and NRNRC president.
The NRNRC acted as the developer for the project; Andron Construction Company in Golden”™s Bridge is the contractor and general construction manager for both the town homes and the senior building; Manhattan-based Perkins Eastman designed the senior building and New Haven, Conn.-based Herb Newman Partners was the architectural designer for the town homes.
Phase one of the townhouses cost $6.5 million and the senior building is a $22 million project
The senior building is a “green” building which will meet minimum LEED (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design) standards. Materials have been purchased and manufactured within 500 miles; there are energy-efficient windows and geothermal heating and cooling.
DePasquale said from now on, “anything The NDR Group does will be green.”
Phase two, another eight to 12 town homes, will be green buildings; the existing town homes are not green but they are energy efficient.
The senior buildings were built using modular construction, a cost saving feature.
The New Rochelle Neighborhood Revitalization Corporation, which will formally change its name to The NDR Group Sept. 9, was founded in 1979 by members of the city”™s Department of Development. It is a private, not-for-profit corporation that provides affordable housing through redevelopment of neighborhoods and construction of new affordable housing.
In its 20 years in existence, the NRNRC has constructed or renovated more than 1,000 housing units valued at more than $30 million.
NRNRC”™s payments to the city are in excess of $350,000 annually.
With its not-for-profit status, the NRNRC has received numerous grants from federal, state and local governments and is the recipient of many housing awards, including one of the last Housing Development Action Grants awarded in the county.
DePasquale said the neediest population groups for affordable housing are senior citizens and first-time home buyers, usually young families.
“That”™s our mission: revitalization of neighborhoods and provision of affordable housing,” DePasquale said.Â
White Plains project goes geothermal
The first residential geo-exchange system in White Plains will be complete by early spring of next year.
The Minerva Place Condominiums, an affordable housing project, will feature geothermal heating and cooling.
“Energy efficiency was an option when we started this, and now with price of heating oil projected to be $5 a gallon, it”™s a necessity,” said Alexander Roberts, executive director of White Plains-based Community Housing Innovations (CHI) Inc.
The nonprofit was founded by Roberts in 1991.
It has grown to an organization that owns and manages more than 500 apartments primarily centered in Westchester, Nassau, Suffolk, Dutchess and Ulster counties.
For the past 13 years, the organization has been acting as the local program administrator for the New York state Housing Trust Fund, providing assistance to first-time homebuyers.
This has since expanded to low income to moderate income homebuyers, the target market for this housing.
“This is the first new construction project that we”™re doing,” Roberts said.
CHI received a donation of land from the city of White Plains on Minerva place. In addition, CHI purchased and demolished a two family house.
“Back in 2001, I got very interested in geothermal heat pumps,” Roberts said. “It”™s a very efficient technology and very environmentally friendly.”
Roberts knew he wanted the 14-unit condo built “green”, but the state had no program for such a unit when the project was started in 2005.
There were Energy Star programs for high rises and single-family homes, but nothing for a low rise.
And so the state developed the program around CHI”™s request for a low-rise program.
It is the first in Westchester County.
“We far exceeded their requirements,” Roberts said. “The modeling indicates that our building will save more than 30 percent over a new building built to code.”
CHI worked with the city, which provided a $75,000-per-unit subsidy for 14 units.
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority is providing $50,000.
“The city wanted us to target the pricing for people earning between 80 percent and 100 percent of the area median income,” Roberts said, indicating that for a family of three at 100 percent would translate to $90,000 and $100,000 for a family of four.
There will be 11 two-bedroom units and three one-bedroom units at 5 Minerva Place.
It is being built modularly by Pennsylvania-based Deluxe Building Systems.
“We”™re very excited to be part of this because there”™s a big need for work force housing, which is different from low income housing,” Roberts said. “Almost all of the programs offered by the county have a limit for an income 80 percent of medium. That excludes a lot of Westchester”™s work force; many are two-income families so there are a lot of people that are not being served.”
