Even with two breadwinners in the family, finding affordable housing in Dutchess County can be a challenge. For retired seniors, whose incomes are often at the mercy of pension plans and savings accounts, that anxiety is magnified. New projects supplying affordable housing to seniors have been very popular.
A new 40-unit senior housing complex to be developed by Hudson River Housing will make finding a home a little easier for lower-income seniors in the City of Poughkeepsie.
“We know there are waiting lists of seniors in the Hudson Valley looking for decent affordable housing,” said Gail Webster, executive director of Hudson River Housing. “We won’t have any trouble attracting eligible tenants,” she said.
The new three-story building, Cannon Street Senior Apartments, will be located at 132-136 Cannon St.
With the recent announcement that New York State Housing Finance Agency is raising $3.35 million for the project, Webster said construction, which began in June, could now progress at a quicker rate. Workers are currently laying the foundation, and construction is set to be completed by the end of next year.
Some 29 on the units will be reserved for seniors 55 years and older with incomes at or below 50 percent of the area media (see chart at right). That equates to $30,550 for a couple. Ten of the units will go to seniors with incomes under 60 percent of the area median income for Dutchess County. A live-in superintendent will take one of the 40 units.
Waiting for the call
Webster noted that there are a handful of senior residences in the City of Poughkeepsie – including high-rises like Admiral Halsey and Interfaith Towers – and yet, waiting lists can stretch on for years. “Every one of them has a waiting list,” said Webster, “It’s not as if there are vacancies.” She also said there is little available for seniors in the Main Street corridor, where there is proximity to shopping, churches, banks and a major hospital.
One resident at Interfaith Towers, James McField, said HRH should have no problem filling the new Cannon Street facility. Before he moved into Interfaith 14 years ago, McField was on the waiting list for about two years. “As soon as there are vacancies, people move in just like that,” he said.
Webster said the residence, which will have a brick and clapboard-siding exterior and landscaped outdoor areas with seating, would also be pleasing to the eye. “It’s a community renewal project, as well as housing,” said Webster. The building will fill a vacant space in the block that resulted from the demolition of three houses that burned in a fire several years ago. “The street could use a very pretty building that is also affordable housing,” said Webster.
Many housing projects allow seniors aged 62 or older, but HRH intentionally aimed for a younger demographic – 55 and up. “Many people are still working at 55, and yet might like to be out of the responsibilities of their house, or their apartment apartments are getting too expensive,” said Webster. Cannon Street Senior Apartments, she said, would allow them to “settle into something for the last few years of working time.”
The total cost of construction is estimated to be nearly $6.53 million. Several grants and loans from NeighborWorks America, New York State Housing Trust Fund Homes for Working Families and other agencies will help finance the project.
HRH is a not-for-profit neighborhood preservation company and community development organization that develops, rehabilitates and operates emergency, transitional and permanent housing for low-income and homeless families in Dutchess County.