Yonkers assisted living center plans $24M expansion
A 3-year-old assisted living center in Yonkers whose residents include Medicaid recipients plans to nearly double in size with an estimated $24 million construction project backed by the Yonkers Industrial Development Agency.
The Yonkers IDA board of directors on Tuesday gave its initial approval of the proposed expansion project at the Westchester Center for Independent and Assisted Living, a 195-unit residential complex at 75 Stratton St. South. Occupying the former campus of the Jewish Guild for the Blind, the center is owned and operated by Center Management Group LLC, an owner and operator of nursing care and assisted-living centers throughout the state. The Queens company paid $14 million for the hilltop property in 2010 and spent $8 million to $10 million in renovations three years ago.
Yonkers officials said the center”™s owner wants to demolish a vacant building on the property and replace it with a 158-unit facility, The Plaza at Westchester, to house an estimated 200 senior citizens. The developer aims to complete the project by the first quarter of 2016. The new facility would create 110 full-time equivalent jobs, according to city officials.
If the project is approved by city agencies, the Yonkers IDA agreed to grant Westchester Center”™s owner a $1,005,000 exemption on sales taxes for materials used in construction, a $388,800 mortgage tax exemption and a temporary property tax abatement.
“There”™s nothing like repeating a success story,” said Mayor Mike Spano, chairman of the city IDA board, in a press release. “The Westchester Center for Independent and Assisted Living provides an affordable home for so many senior citizens, yet there is still demand for more. We are glad to help it meet that demand.”
Described by its owner as an upscale yet affordable facility, the Westchester Center was the first assisted living facility in the county to open through the state Department of Health Assisted Living Program, designed to provide a less costly alternative to nursing homes for privately insured New Yorkers and Medicare and Medicaid recipients.
“Typical assisted living facilities are often too expensive for the average person, and will not accept Medicaid,” Yonkers IDA president Ken Jenkins said in the announcement. “This is a successful model that saves taxpayer dollars while providing a top-notch environment for the residents, including those who rely on Medicaid for their care.”