That is the model of developer Steve Aaron, founder and managing partner of Birchez L.L.C., which is creating affordable senior housing projects in several counties in the Hudson Valley using a mix of housing, health care, and hands on management.
The company already has two senior citizen affordable housing communities of roughly 65 units operating in Ulster County, one that opened in 2005 in the town of Ulster and another that opened in 2007 in Saugerties. Two other projects are under construction in the county while in the towns of Fishkill in Dutchess and Catskill in Greene County the company”™s proposals for affordable senior housing projects are being reviewed. And there is preliminary work occurring for additional Birchez projects, including in Sullivan and Orange counties.Â
“People are getting old all over the place; it”™s amazing.” jokes Aaron, but adds that the demographics support growth, with the population of citizens over 62 projected to double over the next decade, providing a market for the community care concept. He said the project currently being constructed that is closest to completion, Birches at Esopus (without the “z” the company name uses), has a waiting list.    Â
The company is successful, Aaron said, because Birchez communities offer more than state guidelines require: with larger unit floor plans than state guidelines and features such as community centers, libraries, computer labs and fitness studios with trainers. There are also two-bedroom units available, he said, because of a growing recognition that senior citizens are on fixed incomes. “It became pretty obvious the dynamics of a senior family have changed and that seniors sometimes have to pool their units in order to survive,” he said. A two bedroom unit allows siblings to live together, or provides a room for a live-in caregiver.
The latest attraction teams Birchez with Elant Inc. of Goshen, a nonprofit senior health services agency, that will have an office in the communities themselves to provide a spectrum of senior care services for residents. The arrangement “is somewhat unique,” said Aaron, adding that Elant has proven itself to be “A quality service provider.”
“Our model is to develop, construct and manage the community, we do it all,” said Aaron. “There are qualified companies out there that manage senior communities but we like to think we give it a more personal touch and I personally interact with our seniors.
 The hands-on style also ensures quality control an important consideration for the Birchez business model, which is to build and market affordable housing for senior citizens with assets up to 60 percent of median income. Grants and low-interest loans provided by the state Department of Housing make such projects affordable for the company to finance, construct and manage.Â
Those grants are competitive and so managerial quality counts. “The management aspect is important because if you are a quality manager you are more likely to get funded,” said Aaron. “The state doesn”™t want to spend its money and then find out there are management problems in the community. “
The latest project had its ground breaking on Feb. 9. Called The Birches at Chambers, a $15 million, green-friendly, 66-unit development for seniors in the town of Ulster that is adjacent the first senior housing project Birchez built in Ulster.Â
The project will have 66 one- and two-bedroom units in two buildings and a caretaker”™s facility to allow for staff on grounds 24 hours per day. The age threshold is 62 or over and costs of rent range form as little as $300 per month up to $800 monthly for the largest two-bedroom with a river view. Aaron said a comparable unit on the open market would rent for $1300 monthly. The affordability provisions of the projects endure for 50 years, he said, before the owners are allowed to charge market rate rents.
The company can also afford to rent at affordable rates, he said, because they are controlling the costs of operating the units. Though the rents include heat and electricity and other amenities, they are being constructed using energy-efficient techniques.
A key aspect of success is partnering with municipalities on the one hand, Aaron said, and a determination to see projects through. Pre-project market research brings the company to locales where senior housing is most needed; phase 1 of the Birches at Chambers was the first senior housing project built in the town of Ulster in thirty years.
And he said, “I won”™t take no for an answer.” He cited the example of the Birches at Saugerties project, where state funding was held up because of reports of the rare Indiana bat on the property. The federal government raised the concern but wouldn”™t address it, Aaron said. So Birchez funded a wildlife expert to actually do field studies that demonstrated the bats were not actually present on the project site, thus freeing up funding. “Part of our success is we address issues and see it through,” said Aaron.
“It really is a public-private partnership,” said Aaron. “To be successful we work with the local community and once that support has been established, we don”™t give up.”
