New Senior Housing Gets Support of Kent Planning Commission

Plans for a new senior housing complex near Kent's southwestern corner got lots of support from members of the Kent Planning Commission Tuesday.

Garfield Heights based NRP Group has teamed up with the owners of to propose a 68-unit, 120 bed senior living complex at the existing KentRidge site south of S.R. 261 near Sunnybrook Road.

Aaron Pechota, vice president of development for the NRP Group, said they wanted to get feedback from the planning commission on the conceptual site plan. The developers have several steps to finish yet before a formal site plan can be submitted to the city.

"Given what has happened recently … at the , we were approached (by KentRidge) about potentially considering their site for independent senior living apartments," Pechota said. "We jumped at the chance."

Pechota said phase one of the plan is to build a three story, 68-unit independent senior living complex with about 120 beds.

"If at a future date we are able to do wetland mitigation, and we are successful with the first building, we may come back for a second building of anywhere from 38 to 50 units," he said.

Pechota said they will be applying for financial support to build the project with the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, which provides lending assistance to homeowners and "developers of affordable housing," according to its website.

Monthly rent in the independent senior building would range between $400 and $700 depending on the unit, Pechota said. The housing will be targeted at seniors with a yearly income ranging from $15,000 to $30,000.

The tax credit financing limits NRP from building a larger complex to address what Kent Economic Development Director Dan Smith called a "significant shortcoming" of senior housing in Kent.

"We all know over the last few months with what happened at Silver Oaks Place we’ve got a critical need for senior housing," Smith said. "I know we’re at the conceptual level … but we are enthusiastic about supporting these guys and what they’re trying to do. It’s not going to be an immediate project that’s going to take care of what was created by the Silver Oaks situation, but long term” it will address affordable senior housing needs in Kent.

All five members of the planning commission expressed positive support for the proposal.

Pechota said NRP, which owns the retirement complex, said they've got 100 percent occupancy there with a waiting list. Smith added that KentRidge also is at full occupancy.

"We would love to build more units in the initial phase," Pechota said. "The financing we can utilize with the tax credits limits the number of units we can build. If it was up to me, I would come in with a proposal for anywhere from 100 to 150 units. We would certainly contemplate another development here."

There is no timeline for construction of the project, and Tuesday's meeting was strictly to get feedback on the proposal from the planning commission.

"We thought it would be very important … to get feedback from this body," Pechota said.