Last week, the Ellenville Regional Hospital announced that it had entered into an agreement with Warwick Properties Inc., to build an independent senior living complex on the hospital's campus. The proposed site plan would consist of 150 single-bedroom units that would offer affordable housing to seniors on fixed incomes.

While the announcement is the hospital's biggest since its groundbreaking for the new emergency room, ERH Chief Executive Officer Steve Kelley was quick to point out that this project had been in the making for several years.

"The idea had been discussed when Louis Resnick was on the board," Kelley said. In fact, Louis Resnick actually met with Jonah Mandelbaum, the principal behind Warwick Properties, Inc. Kelley went onto say that Mrs. Mildred Resnick remembers Mandelbaum coming to the house.

Mr. Mandelbaum also remembers the meeting with the Resnicks saying, "He [Louis Resnick] actually called me up and we went to lunch at Il Paradiso."

However, as has been well documented, the hospital went through a series of very difficult financial times and the project, as Kelley put it, "was a good idea that nobody was able to execute."

Now, with the hospital not just surviving but expanding, the facility is looking to increase its profile and relevance in the community by offering new services such as senior housing.

"I see this as a real strategic initiative. It's good for the community. It's good for the hospital. [And] it frees up housing stock so that new people with families can move into the area and buy up some of these big houses. The project will allow our community to grow while providing a safe and secure place for our seniors."

Safe, secure and relatively inexpensive. At the Pine Bush facility that Mr. Mandelbaum opened in April of this year (known as Pine Crest), the cost of rent is subsidized by New York State, making the average rent somewhere in the $400 to $600 range based on financial need.

In addition to the Pine Bush facility, Mr. Mandelbaum currently has facilities either open or under construction in Warwick, Goshen, Monroe, Port Jervis, Monticello, Montgomery and New Windsor.

What Mr. Kelley found so appealing about Mr. Mandelbaum's facilities is that Mr. Mandelbaum maintains ownership after the construction's completion. To that end, Mr. Mandelbaum currently manages 500 units.

So what will the buildings look like? That depends on a market study yet to be completed. However, the general idea of the Ellenville project can be viewed if you drive to Mandelbaum's Pine Bush facility. The buildings will be three stories high and will be equipped with an RFID (radio frequency identification) entry equipment, cameras in all public spaces and an alarm system for medical emergencies. The facilities will be self-contained and provide laundry rooms and exercise areas.

The facility will not have direct access to Route 209 but will share access to Shoprite Boulevard with the hospital. At this time, pending the recommendations of the market study, it is unclear whether the Ellenville facility will be built as a three building complex with roughly 50 rooms apiece or as a two building complex with 75 units apiece. Either way, pets will be allowed but smoking will not.

Mr. Mandelbaum entered into the construction business twenty years ago as a builder of custom homes. He has been specializing in building affordable senior housing for the last ten years and is believed to be the largest developer of the kind in the area.

If you are interested in getting your name on the waiting list for the facility, with plans to open in 2008, you may call Grace Pardo at 845-647-6400 ext. 296.

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