New Senior Living Community to Offer Cheap Housing Options

Nearly a dozen unfinished buildings will soon be turned into homes as part of the federal stimulus.

A senior residential complex called McKenzie Falls will fill the lonely shells of former construction with the help of $14 million invested from the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA).

Local officials gathered Aug. 16 to break ground on the massive structure—located near the intersection of Malibu Drive and Briarcliff Road—that will ultimately be comprised of more than 100 buildings.

The neighborhood is designed for low-income independent seniors and persons with disabilities.

Previous construction of a senior community on the site ended a number of years ago after bankruptcy issues halted the development.

Brian Simons, a spokesman with Skender Construction, the contractor for the project, said the land has sat deserted for at least five years and the community is very receptive to see development to the property.

Simons said the existing buildings need only minor modifications as the structures have faired well since the previous project ended. This will help fast forward the project, which Simons said is scheduled to be completed in July 2011.

IHDA Executive Director Gloria L. Materre, who attended the ground breaking, said affordable living for seniors has long been a need in Bolingbrook.

"Work can resume on this important development to meet the need for affordable senior housing in Bolingbrook," Materre said in a release.

The IHDA reported an estimated 130 temporary jobs will be created from the $19 million project and some of the current development fees were waived as a donation by The Village of Bolingbrook.

"We are proud to have played a role in adding housing that ensures our village's residents can afford to stay in the community," said Bolingbrook Mayor Roger Claar in a release.

But McKenzie Falls is not the only low-income senior living development being assisted through the federal stimulus in Bolingbrook. The IHDA website reported that the future Residences at the Promenade Place applied for a Low-Income Housing Tax credit in 2009.            

McKenzie Falls apartment units will rent between $600 and $700 to prospective tenants, who must earn at or below 60 percent of the area's median income. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development guidelines, for a one-person household living in Will County, that income limit it $31,560.

A waiting list for the new residences has already begun.