{"id":80,"date":"2018-11-14T22:13:01","date_gmt":"2018-11-14T22:13:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/careerboardnetwork.com\/blog\/?p=80"},"modified":"2018-11-14T22:14:19","modified_gmt":"2018-11-14T22:14:19","slug":"the-end-of-a-long-dream-senior-living-community-celebrates-opening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/careerboardnetwork.com\/blog\/?p=80","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The end of a long dream\u2019 \u2014 Senior living community celebrates opening"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jenna Lawson – Staff Writer
\nhttps:\/\/www.springfieldnewssun.com\/news\/local\/the-end-long-dream-senior-living-community-celebrates-opening\/ZyMjvi4HnMaXQaHZ5j9WKN\/<\/a><\/p>\n

A $10 million dollar senior living development on the site of the former Community Hospital is complete after over a year of construction.
\nThe project created nearly 50 units and is Springfield\u2019 first \u201cpocket neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Construction on Community Gardens started in Sept. 2017 near the intersection of Burnett Road and East High Street.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the end of long dream of creating a really special senior community for Springfield,\u201d said Neighborhood Housing Partnership\u2019s Executive Director, Tina Koumoutsos, during a grand opening celebration Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Koumoutsos said the community is designed to get neighbors to interact with each other. Several front porches face each other and sidewalks connect each unit.<\/p>\n

There are also no steps anywhere in the community, so it\u2019s able to be accessed by anyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s gonna be a great for our seniors to age in place and I think it\u2019s gonna be a great asset to Springfield,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She said the need for senior housing in Springfield is very real, and the waiting list to live in Community Gardens reflects that.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have over 500 potential residents on a waiting list for a project like this,\u201d Koumoutsos said.<\/p>\n

Rents for the units will be based on three tiers of incomes and the cost of utilities will be reduced.<\/p>\n

Koumoutsos and the Neighborhood Housing Project helped to lead the project, along with several other community partners including Ian Maute, the Vice President of Development for Buckeye Community Hope Foundation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really was kind of screaming for something to be built here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Maute said there were 50 units constructed in the first phase of construction, and on Community Gardens\u2019 grand opening \u2014 40 of those units were already occupied with the rest expected to be filled within the next two weeks.<\/p>\n

The City of Springfield, also a major partner, called the project a huge win.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the type of stuff our community needs. These are the types of projects that are gonna help us move our community forward,\u201d Springfield Deputy City Manager Bryan Heck told a crowd of people who gathered for the grand opening. \u201cThere were several challenges along the way, but as Springfield does we came together as partners, as a community and found solutions to those problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

Getting state tax credits to finance the project proved to be one of those struggles. The first application was submitted and first denied in 2016. That\u2019s when the Neighborhood Housing Partnership partnered with other groups like the Buckeye Hope Community and NeighborWorks America \u2014 and tried again.<\/p>\n

It was rejected again, but then the state reconsidered its application and was eventually approved.<\/p>\n

Many of the community partners expressed their excitement about what\u2019s next on the agenda.<\/p>\n

A second phase of Community Gardens will be developed. Other partners in the project include the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, the Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing, NeighborWorks America, River Hills Bank and Kapp Construction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jenna Lawson – Staff Writer https:\/\/www.springfieldnewssun.com\/news\/local\/the-end-long-dream-senior-living-community-celebrates-opening\/ZyMjvi4HnMaXQaHZ5j9WKN\/ A $10 million dollar senior living development on the site of the former Community Hospital is complete after over a year of construction. The project created nearly 50 units and is Springfield\u2019 first \u201cpocket neighborhood.\u201d Construction on Community Gardens started in Sept. 2017 near the intersection of Burnett … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “\u2018The end of a long dream\u2019 \u2014 Senior living community celebrates opening”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-seniorliving"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t