Benton Township is seeking to develop a new senior housing complex.
The Benton Township Board of Trustees this week voted to hire Wightman to conduct a feasibility study for the development, which would be located on ten acres of township property at 650 South Crystal Avenue. Benton Township Supervisor Cathy Yates tells us that land used to be a mobile home park and is now vacant.
“It is a perfect location for senior housing because it’s between the fire department and police department, for safety reasons, I think if either that would occur,” Yates said. “It’s also close to shopping districts, which they can drive themselves or take public transportation.”
Yates calls the project “a dream of mine.” She says there’s a great need for senior housing, and safe senior housing, in the community.
“We’re hoping that at least 80 to 90 senior one-story apartments can be there with a community center where they can go during the day and maybe exercise and talk to each other.”
Over the next five or six months, Wightman will study the engineering required for such a project along with the feasibility of finding a developer to make it happen. Yates says the township wants a partner that can secure funding and manage construction. They would work with the township housing department.
The cost of the contract with Wightman is $29,000 and Yates says she hopes to hear some encouraging news when the firm comes back with its findings by the end of the year.
