If a Broadway show received the type of reviews of the newest affordable senior housing project in Ulster County, it would be a sure hit, with words like “marvel” “excellence” and “exemplary” being used to describe the Birches at Esopus.
No wonder Steve Aaron, founder and managing partner of Birchez Associates L.L.C. (the company uses a “z,” the development does not), a company that has developed and operates four senior public housing projects in Ulster County, looked like a man presiding over a party instead of a proud executive opening a state-of-the-art affordable housing facility for seniors.
The $15 million, 80-unit Birches at Esopus had its official grand opening Sept. 3 with an array of dignitaries and an audience of appreciative senior citizens applauding from the tents set up for the festivities. But the real attractions were the comfortable and affordable apartments and cottages, complete with a community oriented perspective that provides residents with computer rooms, a “media room” with large flat screen video, exercise rooms and on-site health care.
The partnership of Ulster based Birchez L.L.C and Elant Inc. of Goshen represents a new way of delivering health-care and lifestyle-support for seniors living in affordable-housing communities where they can get everything they need from therapies and wellness to Internet access and a staffed fitness center in a safe environment that is also home for them. Besides the projects in Ulster County, the partnership is working on projects in Greene and Dutchess counties.
Â
“We marvel at one of the best things that has happened in Esopus in many years,” said town Supervisor John Coutant. “We no longer have to watch our elderly residents move to distant places.”
Â
“This is excellence of the highest order,” said state Sen. William Larkin, in whose district the complex is situated. Larkin praised Aaron and his wife Judy for their teamwork and commitment to completing the project and said the entire effort was done as a team, from the state Senate to the halls of Congress.
The minimum age for occupancy is 62 and costs of rent range form as little as $300 per month on up to $800 monthly. Aaron said a comparable unit on the open market would rent for $1,300 monthly.
“We feel very blessed and happy to be living in this lovely unique complex,” said Marie Shultis, president of the resident association. She said that rather than feel they must live a restricted lifestyle in a senior citizen home, residents of Birches “are proud to invite our friends and family for visits and to make new friends.” She said the careful consideration was given to residents”™ needs, including a library and community rooms in addition to the other amenities.
Birchez cooperative business model has succeeded in creating projects in Kingston and Saugerties before opening the newest facility in Esopus. The company offsets the cost of construction with low-interest loans and grants from state and federal sources as well as private capital, combining funding streams in ways that bring down debt service for conventional financing, allowing for affordable rents, said Aaron.
Â
The system is “highly regulated,” said Aaron. Any rent increase needs to be justified with proof it is needed by showing regulators that expenses have increased by amounts commensurate with the increase being sought. The affordability provisions of the projects endure for 50 years before the owners are allowed to charge market rents.
Â
The company can also afford to rent at affordable rates, he said, because it controls the costs of operating the units. Though the rents include heat and electricity and other amenities, Aaron said the new project is incorporating green building principles ranging from high-efficiency boilers to top-quality insulation and energy efficient appliances.
At the festivities Sept. 3, guests included Duncan Barrett, president of the board of the state Association for Affordable Housing, who called the Birches at Esopus, “exemplary.”
Also on hand was U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey, a close ally of Aaron”™s efforts to build affordable housing in the region. Hinchey accentuated the festive atmosphere of the proceedings by leading the gathering in singing Happy Birthday to Aaron, who happened to be born Sept. 3.
Said Sen. Larkin, “In four months I”™m going to be 82 years old, so you better save a place here for me.”
