GEORGETOWN, Del. -- On Monday, the Georgetown Town Council unanimously approved CHEER Inc.'s plans for hundreds of low-income, senior apartments to be built on Sandhill Rd. in Georgetown.
Site plans for the CHEER Gateway East senior living apartments include four, 60-unit apartment buildings to be built next to the current apartments and CHEER community center on Sandhill Rd. There will be a two-mile walking trail around the community, an outside exercise and athletic area, and a community garden.
The current apartment complex is a 60-unit building.
In addition, a new CHEER administration building and a transportation maintenance facility will be built on the site to centralize all of CHEER's services to one location.
Georgetown Mayor Bill West says the project will fill a big gap in affordable housing for seniors in Sussex County.
"It's needed," says West. "We need to take care of our seniors. We need to keep them in Sussex County, so they don't go somewhere else for living, and this is going to be a tremendous asset to the community."
However, CHEER Inc. CEO Ken Bock says funding for the project could be an obstacle. He says the administrative building, including furnishing and operation costs, will cost around $5.1 million. He expects each apartment building to cost $100 million.
"The senior population is exploding here in Sussex County and affordable housing is a real issue for everybody, but most specifically seniors on a fixed income," says Bock. "We have the funding for all the engineering and design work, we own the land already, but we are continuing to fund with private foundations, and donors, as well a public sector partners."
According to Bock, the project has already received funding from the general assembly and it received a grant from the congressional delegation in January. Officials have spoken with the Sussex County council to receive funding, and they are working with the Delaware State Housing Authority to hopefully have them finance the apartment buildings.
If all goes as planned, Bock says the goal is to break ground on the new administrative building next year and to break ground on the first apartment building shortly after. He is asking for continued support from the community, town, county, and State in the meantime.