Dear Isle's Shuttered Island Nursing Home leadership has coordinated plans to redevelop the building into affordable senior housing.
If the town approves that application, the nonprofit will convert the 35-room, 70-bed building into 24 apartments. Some are for people over 55, too much for low-income housing, but for members of the workforce who can't afford the island's real estate market
Reusing the building is the latest idea as it was closed in 2021 due to the issue of finding staff due to the high housing costs in the area. The updated plans will also better meet the island's housing needs, particularly for young working residents with few current options, members said.
A year after the nursing home was closed, authorities wanted it to reopen as a residential care facility, but found that they still couldn't raise enough money or hire enough staff. The director said he had instead focused on affordable senior housing by late 2023, and now he discovered that flexible models were the only way to go.
Homeport Senior Living, formerly an island nursing home, filed a permit application for the approximately $400,000 project before the town's planning committee on Wednesday. They said changes will be made within the building without affecting its footprint.
The apartments range from 600 to 750 square feet and are expected to cost non-senile tenants between $1,400 and $1,600, including most utilities. The possibility of offering some at market rates could offset costs. The board will also project capital campaigns and other funding projects to make rents affordable for senior tenants.
Board member Kathleen Billings said Homeport is running numbers and he is confident that this flexible model will work. A study of changes in state grant programs and island housing needs showed that this change was most useful to the community compared to all senior provisions, she said.
Billings and the planning committee members said they hope the proposal will play a role in providing more housing for the island's workforce and younger residents. This has led the nonprofit to create 12 more plans for Stonington, pushing for a new mobile home park called the “Death Spiral.”
Reopening as a nursing home is completely off the table, the representative said, and turning the building into a home of some sort is the only option on the board other than selling it.
The Planning Committee found that the application was completed on Wednesday after the first table in January. A hearing on the proposal will be held at the next meeting on April 16th, followed by a vote to approve or deny permission.
Interior work could start shortly after approval, the representative said. With the remaining funds being limited, they hope to occupy the building soon.
