Prospect Resident Proposes Conversion Of Former Regalcare Nursing Home Into Affordable Elderly Housing Facility
PROSPECT – A local resident is proposing to repurpose the former convalescent home RegalCare at Prospect into an elderly housing assisted living facility.
The Planning and Zoning Commission held a hearing Sept. 18 at Town Hall and continued it to next month on an application by B&G Realty Ventures to convert the former convalescent home at 25 Royal Crest Drive into a 45-bed facility for elderly residents. The former nursing home, which sits on 8.4 acres, was built in 1970.
The Zoning Board of Appeals on the previous night approved several variances from the zoning regulations to redevelop the facility.
We Do Life Together CEO/President Chet Doheny said he’s been serving people with intellectual developmental disabilities in Greater Waterbury for about 25 years. The organization is a division of Ices Inc. where they have 19 group homes in Greater Waterbury.
“We’re trying to do something for the average working person because right now. I don’t know if you’ve looked at any of these facilities – they start at $5,000 a month and by the time you get what you need for our loved ones, it’s up around $7,000, if not all the way up. We’re talking about memory care, they can go all the way up to $15,000,” Doheny said. “Being in the behavioral business, working with folks with difficulties or handicaps, I felt we could do it a lot more economically.”
The proposed facility would be staffed 24/7 where if residents needed more services, they could bring in visiting nurses, he added.
“We want to use the local senior center, the community center. We’re not going to build all that into this facility,” Doheny said. “A lot of places will have that all under their roof. I don’t believe in isolation, I believe in integration.”
Doheny said it’s going to be a third of the staffing that used to be in the former convalescent with about 15 total staff members and three to four staffers overnight.
The facility will include a laundry facility with housekeeping and laundry weekly, a living and dining room area with a big-screen TV for movie nights and a full commercial kitchen which will be set up more like a deli.
A pickleball court will be developed in the back as well. In addition, there will be a new septic system and two solar panel areas, one on the roof and the other on the ground.
“The purpose of the solar panels on the field is to feed the building and the purpose of the solar panels on top is to feed the grid. It will feed the town of Prospect’s grid as well as giving us a net income to keep the price down for the folks that stay there,” Doheny said. “I’m trying to find all ways to keep that price down so the residents’ money lasts longer.”
Pustola Associates Architect Ed Struchowski said they would keep most of the building and add a 1,000-square foot addition to square up the back to have two-bedroom units. There will also be and a new roof and carport.
Doheny said 20% of the beds will be affordable which is about seven apartment units, which may be eligible for Medicare reimbursement.
AI Engineers Civil Engineer Eric Wagner said there will be 32 parking spaces and all the bathrooms are handicapped-accessible.
There won’t be visiting hours as visitors will be able to come and go as they please, but will have to be buzzed once it becomes late. Every apartment has a window as an egress for fire situations. The sprinkler system will be updated as well.
Project Director Bruce Morrone said the old fountain in the front of the building will be removed to give more access to the area. The facility will have EV chargers as well.
Town Council Chairman Jeff Slapikas said the building going from a 110-bed facility to a 46-bed apartment unit is a great transition. Slapikas, who built the road into the facility over 20 years ago and lives nearby, said there will be no traffic impact.
“I think this is a great situation for the building that’s existing at the moment. If you had something else in there, it would’ve been a nightmare,” Slapikas said. “This is a home run for the town taxwise, it’s a home run for the town people that live in town.”
Land Use Inspector Mary Barton said town officials are now waiting for the Inland Wetlands Commission to make a ruling on the proposed project as they don’t meet again until Oct. 21.
This Article was originally published by Republican-American on September 22, 2024 written by Andreas Yilma. [Read the original article here] (https://www.rep-am.com/localnews/2024/09/22/prospect-resident-proposes-conversion-of-former-regalcare-nursing-home-into-affordable-elderly-housing-facility/)