The Homesteads Celebrates Its Opening
The Homesteads Celebrates Its Opening
By Andrew Gorosko
The Homesteads at Newtown held a grand opening Wednesday afternoon, welcoming visitors to the 100-unit assisted living rental housing complex for the elderly built on the 60-acre site of a former sand-and-gravel mine in Hawleyville.
Dr Morton Silberstein, a retired geriatric psychiatrist, and his wife, Linda, the owners of The Homesteads, welcomed visitors to the 95,000-square-foot building at 166 Mt Pleasant Road.
First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal cut a large yellow ribbon, strung between columns at the main entrance to The Homesteads, officially opening the facility. The Homesteads received its license from the state for an assisted living facility on March 13. Residents have been moving in since then.
Visitors walked through the multi-level building on tours, inspecting the facilities designed for elderly people who require varying degrees of assistance in the activities of daily living.
Based on the grand list of October 1, 2000, The Homesteads is the townâs third highest taxpayer. The property has a tax-assessed value of $10.29 million.
Although it was initially planned as a 298-unit complex containing 100 assisted-living rental apartments, 160 congregate housing units, and 38 condominiums, the developers are now formulating revisions to those plans, which the town approved in 1998. Due to changes in market conditions, the firm now plans to submit revised plans for review by the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z).
The revised plans are expected to eliminate the 160 congregate housing units and replace them with an as-yet unspecified number of condos.
The 38 condos, which already have been approved by the P&Z, are now under construction. Some of those units are scheduled to open this summer. The condos are intended for people over 55.
The Homesteads construction project spurred the extension of sanitary sewers and a public water supply to Hawleyville. The presence of those two public utilities is expected to encourage additional development in the area.
The Homesteads assisted living complex contains studio apartments, as well as one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments. Residents with Alzheimerâs disease and dementia will live within a separate 20-unit wing of the complex 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.