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08.01.2022
On June 21st Lakeview Health Services joined partners and residents for the grand opening of their newest affordable and supportive housing residence, West End Heights in Ithaca, New York. The newly constructed building creates 60 apartments, including 18 supportive for formerly homeless individuals. Services for these units are provided on-site by Lakeview Health Services and funded by the Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative (ESSHI). Additionally, 20 units will house individuals who are residents in Lakeview’s congregate living programs, certified by the NYS Office of Mental Health (OMH) and the remaining 22 apartments are low-income community units.
West End Heights is located near public transportation, shopping, restaurants, entertainment and medical care and has laundry facilities, a community room, and lounge areas on each floor, as well as a courtyard. It also features energy efficient technology and won the U.S. Green Building Council 2022 LEED Homes Award in the Outstanding Affordable Project category.
"We decided several years ago, that in order to do a better job of providing the kind of housing we feel is appropriate for the folks we serve, we needed to build it ourselves.” said Lakeview Health Services CEO Dr. Harry Merryman, “And that's how that all started."
"This is a place that people can call home, people who need assisted living, people who are not always seen by society, who need to be held as equals and that to me was the most important piece," said Assemblymember Dr. Anna Kelles.
Remarks were also given by Leonard Skrill of NYS Homes and Community Renewal, Christopher Smith of NYS Office of Mental Health, New York State’s Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance’s (OTDA) Dana Greenberg and Patrick Miller of Community Preservation Corporation.
Financing for the project is provided by OTDA’s Housing and Homelessness Assistance Program (HHAP), Low Income Housing Tax Credits, the NYS Office of Mental Health, Tompkins County Housing Development Fund, and NYSERDA, as well as funding from HCR’s Supportive Housing Opportunity Program (SHOP).
The architect is PLAN Architecture Studio and the general contractor is Lecesse Construction.
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