Over 100 senior citizens are already on a waiting list for a development which has not even been built yet, according to officials working on the project.
The development, Shaker Pointe at Carondelet, was discussed and presented to the public at a July 24 Colonie Town Board meeting, in which developers showed poster boards with plans of the development to board members and residents of the town.
The property, located on Delatour Road, between Watervliet-Shaker Road and Carondelet Drive, will consist of 198 apartment units, which will be available in three different housing forms: 12 cottages will be available, one 34-unit building of one- and two-bedroom apartments, and 128 one- and two- bedroom apartments which will connect to the development’s common area, called The Pointe.
For those residents who choose to live at one of the connecting wings to the common areas, any service they could imagine wanting will be within a short distance of their home. In fact, the common area, Stephen Grifferty, president of Alchester Development, said, is perhaps the most unique aspect of Shaker Pointe.
`We have the commons [area] which will be available for really any senior residents at Shaker Pointe and really any senior residents in the Colonie surroundings,` he said.
Another unique aspect of Shaker Pointe, according to Grifferty, is that it will be the only community in the area that offers an a la carte meal plan. The development will offer several different dining areas, mostly informal, including a cafE.
The community is sponsored by Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. According to Sister Lauren VanDemark, it was designed to cater to the `needs of the people who are aging.`
VanDemark said that as you age you need more specific needs, and the commons area at Shaker Pointe will be designed to fit every one of them.
Included in the common area will be a general store, wellness clinic, beauty and barber shop and a multi-purpose meeting room for educational purposes.
Grifferty said the development company has a detailed advertising plan for marketing Shaker Pointe, as well as a direct mail campaign that is `really under way.`
With more than 100 people already expressing interest, Grifferty said, in terms of reaching occupancy if they were filling the apartments at this time, `We’re better than half full.`
But development agents are not accepting security deposits just yet.
VanDemark said the development is in its final stage of approval, and is scheduled to be approved by the Town of Colonie Planning Board later this month.
As far as construction, Grifferty said they are hoping to begin building the development by the end of September, if all goes as planned with the Planning Board. Shaker Pointe is expected to begin its first occupancy in May of 2009, Grifferty said, and all together, the project should take about 16 months to build due to its unique layout.
The price of the rentals has not yet been determined, according to Grifferty, because the rent will not only be set to compete with market prices, but will vary between different apartment styles.
Residents will be able to renew lease agreements on a year to year basis, he said.
When developers showed the plans for Shaker Pointe to the public on July 24, they told residents that the community would be open to individuals 50 years of age or older ` a younger requirement than most senior citizen communities. Several members of the audience then raised their hands to ask developers, `Where do we sign up?`
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