Homesteads Opens Model

Assisted Living Unit In Hawleyville

The Homesteads at Newtown, a 298-unit housing complex for the elderly which is now under construction in Hawleyville, has opened a model apartment and a sales/rental office next to the construction site at 166 Mt Pleasant Road.

The model unit, which is housed in a gray modular building, simulates a typical assisted-living rental apartment at The Homesteads. It includes a living room, bedroom, kitchenette and bathroom.

The $50-million Homesteads complex is under construction at a former sand-and-gravel mine about 1,000 feet north of the model apartment.  The initial phase of The Homesteads, a 95,000-square-foot 100-unit assisted-living building, is slated to open this fall.

The Homesteads also will include 38 condominium units. The condos will enclose about 55,000 square feet of space in the form of duplex, fourplex, and sixplex units. The developers also plan to construct 160 congregate housing units in several buildings. The overall project is slated for completion in late 2003 or early 2004.

The assisted living building will contain studio apartments, as well as one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments. Residents will be provided with help performing the activities of daily living. Residents with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia will live within a separate 20-unit wing of the building equipped with facilities designed for their particular needs.

Assisted living facilities are intended for the frail elderly who do not require supervised medical care. An assisted living setting is intended to maintain an independent lifestyle for the elderly for as long as possible.

The basic monthly rates for the assisted-living rental apartments range from $2,800 to $4,200, depending upon the size of the units, according to Tad Serrao of The Homesteads. The level of care which residents require will affect the overall cost of living at the complex.

The condominium price range is $250,000 to $280,000, depending upon the size and features of the unit.

The Homesteads is still developing plans for the congregate housing section of the complex.

When completed, The Homesteads is expected to house about 400 elderly residents and be staffed by more than 60 workers.