Zoning approval for Ulster senior housing and assisted living

BY PETER KATZ Pkatz@westfairinc.com

A proposal that would bring approximately 197 cottages dedicated to senior citizen housing along with an assisted living facility with approximately 119 beds to the Town of Lloyd in Ulster County is moving forward. The Lloyd Town Board has approved by a vote of three to two the establishment of a new Planned Residential Retirement Development District (PRRD) that would allow the project to be built. No timetable was announced for the review of site plans for the project.

The development would be on a site of approximately 57.07 acres on the west side of State Route 9W just north of Mayer Drive and opposite Bridgeview Plaza, a local shopping center. It is being proposed by the entity The Village in the Hudson Valley, LLC.

The development team includes Owen Mark Sanderson, who has experience as a real estate attorney, investor and property owner and manager. He has worked on residential and commercial developments primarily in the Northeast and Florida.

Senior living projects in Florida involving Sanderson include Vero Palm Estates, a 1,000-home property for residents age 55 and older in Vero Beach and Heron Cay, a gated community in Vero Beach with 885 condominium homes for residents 62 and older.

Also on the development team is Ronald J. DeVito, founder and CEO of the Concordia Senior Communities. He is an attorney specializing in real estate development, financing and construction.

Another team member, Paul Cohen, is construction manager for the development. He has more than 47 years experience in the construction industry.

According to Attorney John W. Furst of the Newburgh-based law firm Catania, Mahon & Rider PLLC, each independent living cottage unit will be approximately 1,000 to 1,400 square feet in size with its own driveway with attached carport. They will be a mix of one-bedroom and two-bedroom cottages with at least 10 feet of separation between the units. There also would be a one-story clubhouse approximately of 8,000 square feet with an outdoor deck overlooking the Hudson River. Community gardens would be created for the residents. Other structures would include a 3,200-square-foot maintenance garage located in the northeast comer of the property and a 2,000-square-foot administration building behind the assisted living facility.

“This Life Plan Community offers more than just housing; it offers an opportunity-rich environment providing its residents with programs, services, amenities and health care that support physical health, a sense of community and social engagement,” Furst said. “Its underlying goals are to improve the quality of its residents’ lives, while helping them to age in the best possible way.”

Frust explained that the property would become a gated community with security personnel on duty 24-hours a day, seven days a week. In addition to independent living units and assisted living, there would be: restaurant-style dining services with a variety of meal plans; weekly housekeeping services and special cleaning programs; recreational activities including horseshoes, pickle ball, tennis courts and covered bocce ball courts, and walking paths; a swimming pool; a library; pool tables, a card room; an exercise room and an auditorium with a full stage that also would be used as a movie theater.

More than one-third of the site, approximately 23.2 acres, would be maintained as open space.

The assisted living facility would offer different levels of care including memory care services for those residents suffering from dementia or other forms of cognitive impairment. It would be two stories with just over 112,000 square feet of space. An accessory primary care center would be one story high.

“This project is extremely important and will enhance the quality of life for the town’s large, aging ‘baby-boomer’ generation by not only providing affordable, long-term housing needs,” Furst said. “The project will provide seniors with various types of senior housing with different degrees of care, allowing these residents to age in place.”

Furst said that the project would generate substantial property tax revenues without adding any children to the local schools. The developer reported that the town’s assessor estimated the project would generate $1.5 million in taxes each year. The developer estimated that the full-time jobs created would produce a payroll of $5.9 million a year. Construction is estimated to take three to four years.

“There will be no impacts to any federal or state designated wetlands, nor is there any development within a floodplain,” Furst said. “There will be no impact to groundwater supplies since the project will be utilizing the existing municipal water and sewer services. In addition, the site will contain landscaped stormwater retention ponds along with other related stormwater control measures to control drainage and run-off.”