MOUNT VERNON — A senior housing project first discussed in 2022 is back on track.
Mount Vernon Municipal Planning Commission members approved a development plan Thursday for two three-unit buildings at 301-303 N. Norton St.
The commission’s recommendation sends the plan to the city and is on Monday’s council agenda.
The Area Agency on Aging is developing the project with Blue Door Development Group.
Each building would contain two one-bedroom apartments and one two-bedroom apartment. The plan replaces an eight-unit layout.
“On the previous plan, it looked like the setbacks were really tight in an eight-unit building,” Blue Door’s William Barber said.
The new design places the buildings near the center of the combined lots, with about 20 feet of backyard space and 46 feet on each side. Residents would enter from West Burgess Street.
Trae Turner, the agency’s chief of planning and development, said the apartments would come with services meant to help older residents stay in their homes as they age.
“It’s important to us to have enough green space here at this location. The parking and everything will be very accessible as far as wrap-around services,” Turner said.
Below market-value rents, wraparound services
The agency administers Older Americans Act Title III programs and partners with The Station Break on transportation and home services. It also offers case management and plans on-site service coordination, something Turner said is huge in senior housing.
“That’s the ability to have somebody on site when needed who can also take phone calls and just be that individual that’s trying to come up with what services and support is really needed to keep them there as they age in place,” he said.
The agency plans to keep rents below market value by using unrestricted agency funds and donor money rather than financing, Turner said. He did not give a rent range.
“It’s great to have bricks and mortar,” Turner said, “but obviously we want to be able to keep the rents below market value so that we can offer those wraparound services and things that people need to live and age in place.”
The Knox County Land Bank bought the two lots in August 2021 for $10,000.
Now that the Area Agency on Aging has arranged funding, the Land Band transferred them to Norton Square LLC this past August.
The Knox County Board of Commissioners contributed $200,000 in American Rescue Plan Act money to the project.
MPC members raised no objections to the development plan, nor did the city engineer, law director, and development services manager.
The Area Agency on Aging operates about 150 apartments in Richland County. The Norton Street project would be its first in Knox County.
“We would like to break ground Q4 of 2026 and be ready to complete by Q3 of 2027,” Barber said. “We don’t want to delay it any further than it has been.”
