Apartments for low-income seniors, disabled near completion

Patrick Kennedy, executive director with Housing Assistance Corporation, talks about the new Oak Haven Apartments a senior community located off of Old Spartanburg Road.

Oak Haven apartment building on Old Spartanburg Road is nearing completion, and interest in the units for mostly low-income senior citizens and the disabled has been so strong that 24 more units will be under construction in the fall.

The 56-unit building cost about $6.5 million, and the site manager expects leases to be signed starting July 1. Already, about 32 of the units are committed to future tenants.

Executive Director Patrick Kennedy said construction on 24 more units will begin in the fall, for a total of 80 apartments.

The building is the biggest development for Housing Assistance Corp. and will become home to mostly low-income senior citizens.

"It's really a great location for seniors," Kennedy said.

On Wednesday, site managers with Partnership Property Management of Greensboro held an open house and toured local human service agencies. A grand opening for the apartments will be planned for mid-August. Prospective tenant Phyllis Strickland filled out paperwork Wednesday in a common room of the new building. Strickland has been at Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation in Flat Rock for the past three years. She's lived in some form of nursing home for the past eight, after her leg was amputated.

"They're more like mainstream apartments than traditional handicap places," she said of Oak Haven. "I don't feel like I'm being put into an ugly, utilitarian place. These are beautiful."

Strickland, who is 65, fits the niche for the complex. Rooms are built to standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Cabinets are lower. There are safety alarms in the bedroom and bathroom. Strickland said that without such accessibility, she wouldn't be able to get around. She toured one of the apartments, trying out every light switch and reaching for every plug.

Strickland said the move to living on her own is a scary, but exciting, prospect.

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Apartments for low-income seniors, disabled near completion