Developer Richard Gerentine has recently brought his newest senior housing project, Silver Gardens, before the Lloyd Planning Board for their review.

The project will be a three story, 55,000 sq/ft affordable rental housing complex for seniors 62 and older, just off of Argent Drive. The building will meet the town code height limit of 35 feet and have 57, one-bedroom apartments, each approximately 800 sq/ft. All units will have an outside 12’ x 5’ porch and the complex will have a large community room for activities, watching TV and movies and a kitchen area. Gerentine said 17 of the 57 apartments will be set aside for individuals with special needs.

“As per the state definition, they might have an aide or they might need special attention, he said. “We would have the Rural Ulster Preservation Company [RUPCO], who will manage the project, provide assistance on the premises to deal with whatever those needs are with those tenants.” On this project, Gerentine will be working with his two sons and Kevin O’Connor, Chief Executive Officer of RUPCO.

Silver Gardens will have outdoor parking areas and a new roadway configuration on the sharp S-turn on Argent Drive along with a three way stop that will provide safer access to the complex. Pedestrian connection to Argent Drive will also be incorporated into the project.

Gerentine is working with the New York State Division Of Housing and Community Renewal on this project.

“They get involved and issue tax credits to the developer who in-turn provides affordable senior housing with rents that are very affordable to people who meet the income levels,” he said.
Gerentine said the qualifying total annual income level on the low end for one person is $11,000 and at the upper limit $33,400. He noted that if an individual owns stock, they include what the stock earns in a year as part of the qualifying income calculation. He said the rents will run from about $350/mo up to $800/mo and includes heat and hot water. Gerentine said he has to go before the state and explain any additional operating costs that he has incurred in order to justify a rent increase. On January 1, 2020 he received approval for a 4.5% rent increase for the first time in four years for his other local senior complexes.

Gerentine said his project will be energy efficient, such as using geothermal methods to heat and cool the facility. The sprinkler system, alarms and the smoke detectors will be state of the art.

Gerentine pointed out that the state weighs in on all applications they receive from developers before deciding what projects will receive funding.
“They evaluate the projects and choose based on varied determinations which projects will get funded or not. They will come back and give us approval, yes or no, and if we’re able to get town approval through the Lloyd planning process, we would most likely start in the summer or fall of this year,” he said. “It is a fourteen month construction period.”

Gerentine was initially inspired to build his affordable senior housing projects after seeing a similar one in Orange County.

“I’m pretty fortunate to be able to do this. I thought that seniors needed a place to live that is very safe and secure and affordable,” he said, adding that these facilities are very much in demand in the Hudson Valley. “Every town should have a place where people can house their parents and where they feel very comfortable.”